No sign of repairs to damaged Naas statue

THERE is a lack of clarity over what will become of the damaged statue of John Devoy, following a query from a local councillor.

At the recent Naas Municipal District meeting, cllr Ann Breen enquired: “If the council could update the members on the situation with regard to the repair of the damaged John Devoy statue in Poplar Square, Naas?” 

However, the reply to cllr Breen was not able to reveal any improvement in its condition.

“The council is liaising with An Garda Siochána on this ongoing matter, but further progress regarding repair and associated costs will not be made until the issue is resolved,” said Elaine Donnelly, the arts officer for Kildare.

The statue, which was only erected in November 2015 stood unscathed in Naas until July this year when a “misguided” member of the public chose to try and clean it with an inappropriate chemical.

“This appears to have caused serious damage to the surface of the statue,” said cllr Breen in July.

“The county council has not cleaned the John Devoy statue, and the damage has been caused by a member of the public,” confirmed Ms Donnelly.

“The gardaí have been informed, and the sculptor Jarlath Daly has been contacted regarding a quote to address the damage,” she added.

Subsequent to this meeting her colleague Cllr Bill Clear got an estimate on this cost and “the repair is going to cost upward of €10,000”.

“It’s got to be removed, re-dipped, and replaced,” he said.

“There’s no talking with this person".