THE PRO FOR a group campaigning for a No vote in the same-sex marriage referendum has called for a large mural of two men in Dublin embracing to be removed or covered up.
The mural, which is said by its creator Joe Caslin to be in support of the Yes side in the same-sex marriage referendum, was put up on South Great George’s Street in Dublin city centre last weekend.
Changing minds?
Today, Enoch Burke of Mandate for Marriage spoke to Joe Duffy on Liveline on RTÉ Radio 1, and said he believed the mural could “absolutely” encourage someone to change their mind about how they would vote, explaining that “there’s a massive swing vote in this referendum, it could go 20-80 either way, that’s what a lot of people were saying”.
There are loads of people out there with a soft vote, a very very soft vote, and people are very, very impressionable.
He appealed to Joe Duffy to contact the council and “ask will there be any justice for the No side? Will there be any justice”.
“You’re a powerful person,” he told Duffy, adding: “Will you ring the council, will you ask them why have they not taken it down, why have they not covered it up, even for two months, and just give the No side justice”.
He said there are “serious issues here for religious freedom, for teachers, for religious leaders, for Christians, anybody out there, people who just want freedom for everybody whether it’s a teacher in the classroom or business owner who can’t in all conscience do certain things because of their beliefs either way”.
Martina Burke, who could not confirm if she was related to Enoch, told Duffy “we need equality”.
“I just feel it should be removed,” she said of the mural, adding: “This is not a dictatorship. We need democracy, we need fairness, we need justice. To me as a mural it’s a monument of unfairness.”
She asked if DCC could take out the mural or paint over it.
Street art
The mural, which features two local men, was described by Caslin as a “poignant representation of same sex love in the city”. There was a huge reaction to the piece when it appeared last weekend.
Dublin City Council was contacted by TheJournal.ie and asked how many, if any, complaints were made about the mural. It said it could not comment at this time.
On the issue of street art in general, Dublin City Architects says that “for private properties a mural is between the private property owner and the artist so long as there isn’t a planning issue”.
A planning issue could arise if there is “any commercial or product promotion involved”.
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