Controversy surrounds position of 50ft Westport sculpture

MARKING A VICTORY?Pictured is the scuplture that was designed by Ronan Halpin to celebrate Westport winning the Irish Times Best Place In Ireland to Live competition.?Pic: Michael McLaughlin

50ft bronze celebratory sculpture for Westport, but Cathaoirleach wants it atop The Octagon


Neill O’Neill
neilloneill@mayonews.ie

IF St Patrick thought his lofty perch atop Westport’s Octagon was the best seat in town, he should be aware that at last week’s meeting of Westport Town Council, there was talk of consigning him to history, and replacing him with a 50 foot bronze sculpture that is being commissioned to celebrate Westport’s status as Ireland’s Best Place to Live.
After much debate about where Achill-based sculptor Ronan Halpin’s piece ‘The Sentinel’ would go, the elected members finally accepted the position of Westport Town Manager Martin Keating, and Town Architect Simon Wall, that they had previously agreed the location, and the competition to select the artwork and commission it had gone ahead with based on this.
In other words, there would be no moving the sculpture from the triangular shaped civic space adjoining a private dwelling where Quay Street and Peter Street intersect. It was made abundantly clear that if the location was to be moved, the whole project to date would have to be scrapped and the process would have to begin again.
“The sculpture will sit on a height at the pointed end of the elevated triangulated site, like the maidenhead on the prow of a boat riding high above the waves,” Simon Wall explained.

Cost of €53,000
The cost of the sculpture will be €53,000, and further funding has been secured to landscape and enhance the area where it will be located, and remove overhead wires and poles. The piece, which has artistic symbolism throughout, will point in the direction of Quay Street, acting, in theory, as a guide towards Croagh Patrick, via the traditional ‘scenic’ route to the holy mountain.
All eight councillors present were approving in their opinions of ‘The Sentinel’ but Cllr Myles Staunton was the most ardent critic of the location. He felt the location was wrong, and was a dangerous junction for traffic and pedestrians, which would prevent access to it. He called, in a formal proposal, for the people of the town to be allowed to choose the location for the sculpture.
While others expressed reservations about the location and how it was chosen, and Cllr Brendan Mulroy said that the site was not picked by councillors, rather it was given to them, Martin Keating consulted the minutes of previous meetings to inform them that the site had been agreed on by the elected representatives several months ago. Cllr Martin Keane backed him up on this point, and then Cllr Staunton withdrew his proposal and said that he did not want the funding to be withdrawn and the project delayed or lost, which was the alternative the meeting was told.

Bold proposal
In the midst of al this Cathaoirleach Ollie Gannon made a bold proposal of his own.
 “Why not consider The Octagon,” he said, before qualifying what seemed like a radical statement by declaring; “a lot of people in this town are not gone on the statue of St Patrick that’s up there. People come along and wonder ‘what the hell is that?’ and they have to get up close and read the inscriptions before finding out. This would be singling out Westport as the best place to live and would be there forever more, and I think it would really be something.”
Councillor Michael McLaughlin said the sculpture would be a ‘50 foot lightening conductor towering over the town’ if that happened.
Thirty-two submissions were received from artists and sculptors for the project. The brief given to them was based specifically on the location chosen, and the piece, which should be in place by the end of the year, will be made of a similar material as the Famine Memorial in Murrisk.
The artists were asked to consider the ethos and background to Westport winning the Irish Times Best Place to Live in Ireland award as part of their bids, which included the spirit of partnership, co-operation, responsible citizenship and Westport’s ethos of having a strong spirit of volunteerism.
A selection panel then chose ‘The Sentinel’ as the winning entry. This panel was comprised of;Panel Chair, Gaynor Seville – Public Art Co-ordinator, Mayo Co Co and Selectors: Mr. John O’Callaghan, nominee of Westport to Irish Times Best Place to Live; Frank McDonald - Environment Editor, The Irish Times; Aidan Dunne – Visual Arts Critic, The Irish Times; Noel Kelly – Director Visual Artists Ireland; Sheelyn Browne – Westport House; Rhona Chambers, Chair, Westport Tidy Towns and Simon Wall – Westport Town Architect.

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