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THE COUNCIL HAS defended a new statue commemorating Queen Elizabeth II after some online critics questioned its likeness to the late British monarch.
The bronze sculpture, created by artist Anto Brennan, has received mixed reviews from members of the public since it was unveiled in Antrim Castle Gardens in Northern Ireland last Friday.
It was commissioned by Antrim and Newtownabbey Borough Council and is said to “capture Her Majesty in a dignified pose, reflecting her grace, steadfastness and lifelong dedication to public service”.
In response to the attention generated by the statue, the council acknowledged that art can prompt “diverse opinions” but said it was “delighted” with the “generally positive” response.
The council insisted that social media “may amplify certain negative viewpoints”.
The sculpture stands adjacent to a statue of Queen Elizabeth’s late husband, Prince Philip, which was created by the same artist, and also features two of their many corgis.
However, it has attracted more criticism than praise on social media, and received mixed review from visitors to the gardens.
Antrim and Newtownabbey Borough Council posted the images of the sculpture on its social media sites, however, it drew quite a lot of criticism online.
One X user said it looks more like Mrs Doubtfire than it does the late British monarch.
Another said it’s the latest example of “bad public art”.
DUP councillor John Smyth was among those who attended the unveiling last week.
Smyth, who is a councillor for Antrim town, said he was “surprised” when he first saw the sculpture.
“I’m glad to say I wasn’t on the committee that designed it, as such,” he said.
Asked what he thought of the sculpture, Smyth said: “Surprising, probably. It looked OK from a distance.
“I thought the facial could be slightly better. Compared to the Duke of Edinburgh statue, which I was involved in, (which) I’d say is a better one.
“It has more likeness (to the Prince), and definitely looks well. It’s like any work in bronze, it’s hard to make anything a perfect replica of any person.
“It’s quite hard to cast. Anto also cast the Duke of Edinburgh one, so it’s a hard job.
“(The Queen) had a smaller stature, so even though she was an important lady, she has a smaller statue and frame.
“It has the handbag and the Scottish-style clothing. They’ve tried their best to get it as near perfect as possible but it’s a hard job.
“You can’t change it now once it’s done. Once you cast the bronze statue, that’s it.
“I was involved in the Duke of Edinburgh statue and we got to see the mould before it was poured and we got to see what the image would be.
“We were quite happy with it, we did changes to his uniform to make it more country effective, rather than military.
“I’m sure the (Queen) committee would have got a look at (the mould) and they would have seen before it was poured.
“We can’t change it, it would cost more money. People will forget about it in a few weeks’ time.”
At the time of the unveiling, Mayor of Antrim and Newtownabbey Neil Kelly expressed his “pride in the council’s efforts to honour Her Majesty’s memory”.
He said: “The unveiling of this beautiful statue is a tribute not only to Her Majesty’s extraordinary life and reign but also to her deep connection with the people of our borough.
“This memorial will stand as a lasting reminder of her dedication to service, her resilience and her ability to unite people across generations.”
In a statement Antrim and Newtownabbey Borough Council said: “The council is delighted with the generally positive response to the new Queen Elizabeth II sculpture in Antrim Castle Gardens.
“It acknowledges that art can sometimes spark diverse opinions, but it’s important to emphasise that the sculpture has been warmly received by most who have seen it in person.
“The statue beautifully captures Her Majesty’s grace and steadfastness, standing as a fitting tribute to her extraordinary life and reign.
“The council is particularly pleased with how the sculpture complements its surroundings, standing adjacent to the statue of Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh, and accompanied by two lovingly crafted corgis.
“This thoughtful arrangement has resonated strongly with visitors, who appreciate the personal touch it brings to the memorial, within the Gardens.
“While social media may amplify certain negative viewpoints, the council encourages everyone to visit Antrim Castle Gardens and experience the sculpture first hand.
“The sculpture stands as a lasting tribute to Her Majesty’s remarkable legacy, and the council is proud to have it as part of the community’s cultural landscape.
“The positive sentiments shared by the majority of residents and visitors reflect the sculpture’s success in honouring Queen Elizabeth II’s memory and her enduring impact on the nation.”
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Excellent piece, and I heartily agree. The rush to privatise comes from a failure to see ourselves not only as consumers, but as owners.
State assets belong to us, and we are caretakers for generations of citizens yet unborn. If we sell them we put them forever out of the reach of the citizens. Perhaps this would be clearer in people’s minds if whatever small dividends were realized by state companies were equally divided and paid out to all citizens, on the Alaska plan. We’d all have taken a much keener interest in how they were run.
Let’s also not forget that we all benefit from maximizing employment, something that a state, but not a for profit company can do.
Privatization may not always be wrong, but it deserves a lot better than the lazy assumption that it will always lead to better services.
The previous government gave breaks to golden circle investors eg toll bridge the m3 hasn’t got the traffic that was expected but sure the tax payers will have to make up the short fall. Watch and see who will get the lucrative ones like ESB great kick back for the boys!
The author is fair and balanced throughout, UNTIL the last section where he makes a startling generalisation:
“Privatisation will almost certainly result in job losses. That means yet more unemployment and hardship for many all in the name of efficiency.”
So we, the customers of these companies, should pay higher prices just to keep people in employment doing jobs that aren’t required. Surely these higher prices are a barrier to new employment in that private employers must pay higher travel and light and heat expenses and so cannot take on extra staff and expand?
“Meanwhile, any capital gained from the sale will more than likely be thrown into our ever expanding black hole of national debt.”
The author quotes from the New Era plan from Fine Gael, but deliberately omits the part where it states that the sale of state assets would be used to establish new state assets by investing in the electricity grid, the water network and the broadband network. Yes, I know many of us are attached for whatever reason to the current generation of state companies, yet a new generation such as Irish Water, Broadband 21, Gaslink and SmartGrid could assist greatly in improving our national infrastructure.
He also cites Scandinavia where public money was spent investing in a fibre power broadband network. This is part of the New Era document. Indeed it is clear that if both of John McGuirk’s questions in quoted the article were asked of establishing a fibre power broadband network, then the answer is no.
Also re the sale of Coillte mentioned in the comments section, the document states “NewERA will merge Bord na Mona and Coillte into a new company called “Bioenergy and Forestry Ireland (BFI)” to expand Ireland’s position in biomass… BFI will invest €900 million in 2010-13 in order to allow it to become a global leader in the commercialisation of next generation bio-energy technologies.”
And re Eircom, the company should have been sold but the network should have remained in state ownership. Unfortunately FF got that one wrong as well.
This is one of my pet hates. Their plan to sell the only state owned or partially state owned assets. It makes no financial sense. You don’t sell off the thing that brings in income. It’s selling our future.
This idea is thrown around as if it equates to selling the family silver??? While selling the family silver would be acceptable in dire circumstances, does anyone have family silver thst is actually generating money? I don’t think so!
The word hasn’t been invented to describe how stupid, moronic and imbecilic it is. It makes no sense!
It’s cynical beyond belief,the fisheries giveaway by what was a developing country in’69 rivals this madness,corporate vulturism that can really end badly,Germans should know better.
In terms of looking after the general public it makes no sense at all. In terms of securing their own personal wealth and THEIR families futures for THEIR life-times it makes perfect sense.
Once you realise that the people in charge don’t give a toss about the public, or the future of the country, that they’re not willing to make the sacrifices that they expect the rest of us to make – THEN all this makes perfect sense.
If the government and powers that be were willing to share the pain then we would have let the banks fall way back when, there would have been no bank guarantee; When the new government came in, if they were serious about sharing the pain and saving our futures they would have defaulted, but they’re not serious, they don’t want to share the pain, they’re securing their own short term futures at the expense of whole generations of Irish citizens families.
They don’t give a fuck about this country.
If you look at things from their perspective then all this makes perfect sense.
The island of Ireland had one of the most unique natural resources in Europe – fishing. When every other country had along most of their borders belligerent neighbours considered by most nothing more than a nuisance we had vast potential for economic growth which was squandered to the control of these countries that saw it’s value and exploited it to death. All in exchange for a few cheques in the post under the Common Agricultural Policy which has also ruined our agriculture.
Do you think selling your children future for the Bank is the right way to go?
Funny how an article on privatization didn’t mention the deleveraging from State hands of the largest property management company which exists. When NAMA is privatized there should be a Garda investigation straightaway and anyone who benefits should be revenue audited. (I have no doubt too that water metering is the precursor to privatization of essential utilities). The others are merely shortsighted, poorly judged and designed to pay off bankers’ debts.
Do not mean to upset you connor but there is an alleged investigation in to FRAUD in anglo irish bank and where is that getting us nowhere, there laughing at us and remember they people that really run this country dont investigate themselves
Capitalism as a solution for a capitalist failure. Just Pour more fuel on a fire.
True capitalism would have let the banks fail.
No arguments there Ryan.
It’s all about the socialization of private debt (banking debts) and asset stripping. The Troika’s only aim is to get as much money out of this country at whatever cost as soon as possible.
Fine Gael, Labour and Fianna Fail initially are the ones facilitating the theft.
Agreed perhaps the coalition could be called “continuity F F !!!
Starting to wonder If the death of communism was a pity,the relentless enrichment of the already rich will provoke serious trouble,the giveaway of national money generating assets of troubled nations is a downward spiral.
There are certain public utilities that do not make sense to privatise in general and especially so when you have a small market like Ireland. All you are doing is transferring a public monopoly into private hands. Once that is done the only stakeholders are the shareholders. The consumer is secondary. Plus in many cases the market is so small that you are unlikely to have any significant competitors.
Often privatisation is a knee jerk reaction to badly run state services. There’s no reason why a strong government can’t get in and put in the boot.
For the paltry amount of money that we’ll get from selling off some of these publicly owned utilities, I can’t see how it’s worth it in the long run. For example, we have seen how the privatisation of the electricity sector has gone in the UK. In the USA, I give you one word – Enron.
The (part) privatisation of the ESB would be a disaster. The placement of control of our energy resources into the control of private international investors would be the final nail in the coffin of our sovereignty and independence. Energy is the life blood of a nation, the very basis of it’s manufacturing, trade and commerce.
The protection of state assets should be the prime responsibility of any government and the the image presented by the author of planeloads of american investment ghouls flying in to mop up the spoils of war in post war Iraq should frighten the very wits out of the Irish public.
Make no mistake Ireland in it’s present state is similar to a post war country. Economy in tatters. State institutions beset by corruption and indifference and it’s right to self determination in foreign control. Everything is in place except the post apocalyptic landscape.
Our economic future is in the hands of external forces to a great degree but the resources and assets of the country are OURS and the result of the labour of generations of Irish people.
Great Article! Well Done!
Oh! And where’s ‘Dieter’.
What also needs to be mentioned is that the proceeds of the privatisation of State assets will not go towards any type of stimulus for the Irish economy. It will put a paltry €5 billion (depending on market conditions and the almost guaranteed small prices you get with a firesale of this kind) towards paying off our “bailout” package. Thus, Germany wins twice! We sell our assets, most likely to German firms, and we then give the money from that sale to Germany.
So, I think we should be discussing how we most efficiently look after our interests as the owners of these assets.
1. We should remind the government that Bunreacht na hEireann entrusts them with management responsibility, but forbids them from acting to the detriment of the interests of the whole people. They simply do not have the authority to sell state assets, and should do so only after a referendum in which a majority of the citizen owners agree.
2. All referendum authorised sales should immediately distribute a goodly proportion of the proceeds – say 50% – in equal shares to all citizens. This could be defined as the list of all those eligible to vote in a referendum at the time of the duly authorised sale.
This would make the matter of our ownership a practical concern for each of us and greatly enhance the terms of our national debate on the issue.
Auntie.
I think in the great tradition of wise elderly relatives you should get this delinquent government across your knee and while rising welts on it’s bare arse give it the benefit of your wise council and knowledge!
This IMF/EU deal has nothing for the Irish people but a lot for the banker’s and private investor’s. That famous night on September 2008 when the then FF government signed us into slave’s to pay of foreign private bank debt for 10-15 years NOW we are forced to sell state asset’s on the cheap to the same foreign investor’s that were giving billion’s to.
Our government is foreign controlled,Our water foreign controlled,Our electricity foreign controlled,Our currency foreign controlled,Our fishing foreign controlled,Our natural resource’s AKA(corrib gas) foreign controlled.I could of missed a few there but you get the point.
It’s worth considering what privatization amounts to: The people own state assets; then they’re invited to buy what they already own! Then they’re invited to sell at a major loss! Then the new owners sell at a major profit!
Of course you need to sucker in the Unions so they end up fat cats for a while (eg ESOT in Eircom) who could have prevented the scam but didn’t, out of greed.The unions got free ownership of (11% was it?) of Eircom while wethe lawful owners had to buy it! Great system!
Alarm bells always ring in my head when I see the words “John McGuirk”.
Good article.
How about we sell them off then take them over like we should be doing with the resources off the mayo coast. Are cash rich politicians only think short term that’s why we are still in this mess.
They should have been privatised during the boom. Maybe now they could just throw out the chronies and unions and put industry proven CEOs in charge to run them more efficiently and as the country becomes more competitive the jobs will come
david, would you privatise coillte too?
Perhaps the state could auction public sector jobs plenty of very good people with experience that would be willing to adopt new work practices and pay for chance to get job for life and copper fastened pensions
@joseph. I’d start with electricity generation as it is too expensive and causing us to be uncompetitive. Then I would take the water responsibility off the local authorities because they are wasters. Then I would love to see ALL road building, maintenance and repair tendered out to private companies where accountability actually exists. This includes fixing the millions of potholes and trimming roadside hedges saving lives in the process. Coillte would be way down my list. Do you have some personal connection or something
do i have a personal connection or something?
Yes, I most certainly do. I love the forests of Eire. I love that they are owned by the people of Eire.
This country is my home.
State assets are our assets. We hold them in trust for future generations.
Yes, i take ur point about certain unions, and the inefficiencies etc,
but to sell them off to pay for the banking mistakes, or to sell them off for any reason, is about as fucking thick as a government can get.
Once they’re sold, they are gone for good.
David
Do you also post under the name ‘Dieter’?
Well if u read my original comment I was recommending efficiencies more than sale. But on your point of coillte I wouldn’t say they own the forests of eire. They are more of a management company. And they are one of many forest management companies in Ireland.
@john. I’m sure my views are quite opposite to the infamous dieter.
Some irony in my comment there David.
Perhaps I should have been clearer. The privatization of electricity and water supplies, for example, would effectively put into the hands of private foreign investors control of our economy, and mental stability! It is one of ‘Dieters’ great theories that our water supplies have been ‘meddled with’ resulting in the complacency of the population in the face of foreign domination and control!
@john. Gotcha now. Can’t say i ever read much of dieters comments
You should. I’m a fan!
I love him too. Gas man!! Wtf is he?
Rumor has it Reada that Her Von Wilcox has moved from Downing St. to take up residence somewhere along the Cavan/Monaghan border with a view to showing the feckless Irish the error of their ways.
Employed no doubt by the Great German Chancellor Herself!
I’m talking about Dieter John. The Shepard.
The Shepard?
Google ‘Her Von Wilcox’ and you’ll see what I mean.
http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/SpittingImage
I call him the Shepard cos he wants to guide sheep. He always picks on the sheepiest.
Your link was rather cruel John. I’m sad. :(
Oh Dear! Sorry to cause you sadness.
Here’s another little link that might cheer you up again!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uJRwRsvTn0w&feature=share
LOL.Amazing gravity defying skills John. They could teach the Markets a trick or two… You’re a bit gas yourself.
Fantastic article, I expect big things in the future from this Feargal Browne fella
Populist bullshit is attractive indeed. I am sure you will get more of this stuff written by people who don’t understand for people who don’t understand.
I’m gonna have to go ahead and disagree with most of this article and the comments……
Do go on.
There’s a concensus on here that corporate greed is the only thing that drives privatisation?
- I would say that the publics desire for competitive prices and efficiency drives privatisation. The only greed comes from within these state run organisation where management is never held to account for performance.
There’s an outcry over foreign investors?
Nevermind the fact that FDI is crucial to this country and our hopes of a continued export led recovery, why a sudden raft of xenophobia when we are in an economic mess because of Irish people and Irish companies like AIB, Anglo Irish etc.
“sudden raft of xenophobia”…..eehhhh, no.
“we are in an economic mess because of Irish people”……eehhhh, no
I disagree Michael.
The public desire for competitive pricing drives competition not privatisation. Certain state assets are essential to the very nature of an independent state ie energy, agriculture, fishing, tourism, forestry etc. In most cases the products of these assets are traded internationally and compete with similar products of other countries in a pricing structure set by international trading. We have the ability to market our goods and services on this open market and have a very good reputation for doing this well. Our forestry, food and fisheries are of the best in the world. Our international reputation for the quality of our food production and quality of our agricultural produce is world class. If we loose control of our energy resources we loose control over the ability to process, package and effectively market our produce in a profitable manner and be forced to export our produce in low value form (raw material) to be processed elsewhere at a loss to our economy. This happens too much as it is. Just give over control of our state assets and we’re back to being a peasant nation working in the fields for our colonial masters.
@John
I do see what your saying and agree for the most part about control, but I think this can be achieved through Governement regulation – stong and proper regulation not someone asleep at the wheel. Once this is in place then a private enterprise will provide the best return on investment although it won’t work in every sector like healthcare and education.
However your post sounds like protectionism which will not work in this economy.
@Joseph McGee
I don’t know what else to call a fear of other nationalities??
And yes we are in this mess because of Irish people – Irish ploticians, Irish banks, Irish builders and the Irish public buying houses they could not afford.
Again I disagree Michael.
While I have little knowledge of economics or international finance etc. I like to think that I can rely to some extent on my common sense and experience of past events. One such past event was the complete abandonment of any kind of regulation by our Government and state institutions of corporate entities This I believe is the result of secret corporate donations to all the major political parties. In a nutshell, they can’t be trusted.
In the light of this I believe that ownership of state assets should remain in the hands of the only body than be trusted – the public. Protectionism it may be but this should be constitutionally locked in and outside the ability of the gombeen element to be lured by the colour of a chequebook.
I’m not going to get into conspiracy theories and I think you forget that the public must share some of the blame for our current economic situation. But if the government can’t be trusted to regulate/ legislate (which I believe should be their core responsibility) then how can you trust them to run our largest and most important companies?
The only way for the public to own a company is to sell shares of the company on the stock exchange.
There’s always one.So were to blame every single Irish person is to blame for this,A lot of people around the country like my self have no debt’s didn’t go mad during the fake boom and pay tax.
Around a 500-1000 developers got billion’s and billion’s from a bank that has one Atm I never heard of Anglo before all this and they couldn’t pay back their billion’s so we have to.As I see it we were not invited to this party and were left to clean up.Private debt should be private not public,Why can’t private profit’s be public profit’s??
We should be looking at ourselves because we repeatedly voted for the policies that got us here. Sure we may not have realised at the time just what we were voting for, but I don’t seem to recall too many asking questions as long as they were paying less and earning more.
You’d think the ESB was working for the benefit of us all. When a control panel operator in Pigeon House can earn 100k a year they are clearly not doing that.
I’m not for a cheap sell-off but I’d very much like to see many of these state companies get brought into the real world.
So, the only thing Ireland truly owns might be sold.
:) That really does sound like our impeccably overpaid and under-thought government.
Town Mayor 1 “Alright lads, were fairly broke but I got a plan.”
Villager 1 “Whats that?”
TM1 “Sell all of your houses!”
V1 “Eh…. right”
“The problem is that when a State asset is privatised, the raison d’etre for the company moves from offering a service to making a profit.”
This is a problem only for those who prefer government waste. Emergence of a profit is the result of a service (for which there is a demand) provided in an efficient manner. If there is no demand or if the service is being provided in a wasteful manner then this service should either be ceased or the delivery optimized. The problem is that the government has a track record of being incapable of ceasing unwanted services or optimizing the delivery. This is due to political pressures of Jack O’Connors of this world etc.
This government has got to go if they are planning of on selling Irish private asset estates, they are going to force even more unemployment and all they are doing is making things much worse than they are, but the same government is blaming unemployment for their doing, when infect they so far have made public sectors resign on early retirement, now it Is Dublin airport, and public transports and trains, ESB, eircom, unbelievable of this government, not for the benefit of the Irish taxpayers, but for the benefit of themselves and bank bail outs which they will be doing soon in April again, we should keep our Irish jobs here in Ireland and the government instead of spending on the business and employment here in Ireland, they are destroying our econonmy down to the ground, instead of blooming and growing jobs, not unemploy the working people by selling up our assets to Germany and France, do we not get a say to voice what we want, I really think this government should exterminated from the dial, as they haven’t got a clue, selling Irish assets for peanuts to greedy Germany who have robbed us blind already. We should have a say, it is our properties and we should claim the properties by taking it to a court, and rule in favour, what is the people in Ireland a bunch of ignorant people who stand for this, it’s not on! Sad day! Rita Cahill
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