The Office of Public Works’ flood relief scheme on the Nore has been a fiasco, and it just got worse. First the project went hugely over budget, then they killed dozens of salmon, now an €80,000 sculpture on the banks of the river has disappeared beneath the waves.
The OPW scheme was criticised last year by the comptroller and auditor-general for costing four times its original estimate of €13m. Then the nation was subjected to harrowing television pictures of Greenland salmon returning to spawn on the Nore, where they were born, only to die in droves because they couldn’t negotiate an asinine weir installed by the OPW.
Now John McGuinness, a local TD, has revealed that a sculpture “presented to the city and placed carefully on the banks of the river” by the renowned British artist John Maine, has been submerged. “You simply don’t move or alter works of art or change their surroundings, in the case of a site-specific piece, without consultation,” said McGuinness. “It’s not just careless, it’s ill-mannered and disrespectful.”
Contacted by Sue last week, officialdom shrugged. One source reckoned the OPW boys thought the limestone sculpture was a just a few oul steps to the river.
Tom, or is it Tony, Reddy has his work cut out at O'Herilihy PR
It’s not often that Sue picks on hapless PR executives, but the illiteracy of an O’Herlihy Communications press release last week cannot pass. Announcing that Tom Reddy was joining the firm as executive director, it went on: “In a career of more than 12 years with the Irish Independent GroupTony (sic) was European Correspondent based in Brussels and on his return to Ireland, was appointed the Groups (sic) first security correspondence (very sic) reporting a crime, Gardai . . .”
We feel sure Tom (not Tony) learnt to write proper during his distinguished career, and trust that one of his duties will be writing future O’Herlihy press releases.