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DUBLIN’S LORD MAYOR has defended placing a huge banner on the Ha’penny Bridge supporting the Dublin footballers despite it being labelled “cheap” and “tacky” by those opposed to it.
The banner, which extended across the railings of the entire bridge, was erected days before Dublin’s league final match against Galway on 1 April. It had remained in place for more than a week after, drawing the ire of many including the Green Party’s Eamon Ryan.
Speaking on Morning Ireland, Dublin Lord Mayor Micheal Mac Donncha said he was fully supportive of continuing to place the banner on the bridge.
He said: “I’m fully supportive of the practice. It brightens up the city. They went up for the league final. It has been removed now and it did only go up for a period to wish the players well.
“It’s something that the citizens look forward to and celebrate. I have never heard any objections. Most citizens welcome them and they mark a great achievement.”
However, this view was not shared by Eamon Ryan. Speaking on the same programme, he said the huge banner was bringing down the tone of the city.
He said: “I’m very happy the Dubs are winning and that we celebrate it but I don’t think we need to do that by defacing what is one the most iconic places in Dublin. It’s not very stylish for what it is an iconic piece of architecture. It doesn’t need banners and I think it should be left alone.
“It’s not going to damage the structure, I just don’t think it looks good. Let’s fly a massive flag off City Hall by all means. But the banner is a bit tacky.”
The council is now reviewing the banner practice.
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I suppose people have to be offended by something.
@ktsiwot:
Who said anything about being offended?
It’s not possible to believe that covering up one of the few attractive landmarks that we have with cheap, tacky plastic should be re-thought?
@ktsiwot: I’m offend that you think that some people are easily offended. Now hang your head in shame…please.
@ktsiwot: don’t think anyone’s offended, they just want ugly tack removed. Simples
@ktsiwot: Amen
@Jamie Jj Tobin: I’m offended that your offended by a comment you made that offended someone who has a right to be offended by the inoffensive comment.
Fair play to them for putting the flag up, a show of support for Dublin’s brilliant football team. I saw many tourists having their photo taken beside the flag and enquiring as to why it was there. They learned a little bit of culture about one of our national sports. I’ll bet half those against the idea are not true Dubliners.
@Frank Cauldhame: And another thing, that Flag is nothing compared to electioneering posters, the biggest eyesore we see prior to a GE, pics of numpties everywhere you look that always stay up longer than permitted. This debate is so petty its not even newsworthy.
@Frank Cauldhame: Dublin football represents only a small portion of a Dublin society. Recently their brand of football has reduced that further. Hence the growth of Rugby. Completely agree this ugly rag is removed from our city.
@Brinster: The flag only goes up for a few days before a big match in which Dublin are involved, you must have very delicate eyes.
@Mairtin Cathbhar: the growth of rugby?
Over 2,300 gaa clubs and 200 rugby clubs in ireland.
71 rugby clubs in Leinster, 854 GAA clubs.
Take your eletist sport and shove it Mairtin.
@Gary Foster: Well said Gary, that flag brings a big smile to my face on big match days. It’s not as if it’s there permanently.
@Gary Foster: Because the council give over 90% of land allocated for pitches to GAA.
@Mairtin Cathbhar: Nonsense and snobbery rolled into one. Your a Rugby head, I like rugby too. Your point about the brand of football Dublin play made me chuckle as you obviously haven’t a clue about the game.
@Barra O Brien: Its our National sport, would you rather see our culture continue to dissolve? Besides I’d like to see a link to your ‘stat’ if you don’t mind.
@Frank Cauldhame: hurling is our national sport , gaelic football is a compromise madey uppy game to get people away from playing soccer
@Seán O’Sullivan: pmsl, GAA hurling is our National sport along with Gaelic football. Kerry won the centenary final in 1984. I don’t think there were tellies around in 1884 to use as propaganda for GAA to be played by the populace instead of other sports. Gaelic football is part of our culture and tradition whether you like it or not. Personally I like Gaelic football, soccer, rugby then hurling in that order. Dublin council only put the flag on th Ha’penny bridge prior to a big match in which the Dubs are involved. They also put blue flags on lamposts around the county, not only in the City-centre but in the suburbs as well. Fair play to them.
@ktsiwot: Anywhere else in Ireland would have no issue hanging banners to support their local team. It doesn’t look bad either..maybe it obscures a landmark and some thought should have gone in there.. but to be fair, a Dublin banner is a minor issue..unless you are from Mayo
@ktsiwot: Let’s stick to Palestinian flags on City Hall.
So the snowflakes are not even allowing people support / celebrate it’s own county now?
Jesus wept
@Damien Gill: i don’t think it has anything to do with supporting Dublin, the point is that covers up a land mark and looks like something a four year old put together. Oh and well done if your use of “snow flake” how very grown up
@ChuckE: if this is their biggest problem then a snowflakes is exactly what they are
@Damien Gill: It is not a big problem at all. It just looks ridiculous. Imagine tacky banners draped across the great pyramids or the taj mahal? Mind you, I am not saying that the ha’penny bridge is quite at that level.
@Damien Gill: Bit of a “Snowflake” yourself, most over used buzz word in recent years!
@Johnny Bellew: then why compare them?
Yeah and the Sistine Chapel too while your at those comparisons
@Johnny Bellew: If they want to stick up tacky sports banners then it should have been attached to the side of Liberty Hall, anything that covers that eyesore is a good thing…
@Kavo: You can compare two different things. Comparison is an exercise in analysing both similarities and differences.
@Dotty Dunleary: Agreed.
@Kavo: Just for the craic, Kavo, just for the craic.
@Johnny Bellew: the leader of one of Ireland’s political parties is talking about it on national television. If it’s not a big problem maybe he should be focusing on the many big problems the country has instead of this petty nonsense over a sign supporting a football team. Maybe the people sleeping rough on or near that bridge might be chief among them?
@John drennan: Is it not possible to tackle the homeless crisis, support your county team, and ask for the removal of tacky banners, all at the one time?
@Johnny Bellew: Leo & Simon, aka Ernie & Bert, seem to find tackling the homeless crisis an impossible task. Leo shouldn’t be getting involved with trivialities about a county flag when the rest of the country is falling to pieces around him. Unless of course they plan to rename the bridge after uncle Dobbie.
@Damien Gill: I’d say global warming would be a snow flakes biggest problem. Any other easy buzz words you wanna get in today ?
@Johnny Bellew: Probably not for some people :)
Easy to distract.
@Neal Ireland Hello.: good man Neil
@Damien Gill: You seem to be mentally ill.
@Damien Gill: well it does look pretty awful, you gotta admit
@Damien Gill: It looks like you drew it with crayons and it covers a landmark. That’s the problem, it’s not anti Dublin sentiment.
Surely Eamon Ryan could utilise his ‘talents’ in a more productive area like tackling the pollution caused by this continuous outpouring of his own voice?
@Matt Donovan:
Eamon who?
@Matt Donovan: Eamon Ryan is a complete numpty.
If the Lord Mayor in his infinite wisdom do something about it 24/7 presence of beggars on the bridge then I could get behind that. Two American friends of mine crossed the bridge every day last week at various different times and asked me was it an art installation.
@Anton Dec: your American friends are obviously idiots.
@..:
Obvious? To whom?
I thought that it was a depressing observation made by detached and unbiased visitors to Dublin. They were staying on the Northside and crossed the bridge every day for a week. One of them described the journey as “full on from Parnell Street to South William”.
I was surprised that it was that bad. Living in the city center myself I tend to cycle more.
I truly love encountering abusive trolls like yourself. Dazzle me with another breathtakingly witty comment.
@Anton Dec: They’ve obviously never been to a US city. The degree of homelessness there is horrendous. And, a bugbear of mine, why do we always frame issues in a ‘what will the neighbours think?’ discourse? Who cares what the tourists think. We should tackle homelessness because it is not acceptable to us!
@Anne Marie Devlin:
I didn’t use the word homeless once.
Begging. From the door of the hotel on Parnell Street to the Powerscourt Center. They encountered 6 beggars on the first day in under 20 minutes. Accosted three times as they walked from Moore Street to Temple Bar. Beggars on the bridge, under the Central Bank. Beggars.
As tourists in the city it’s inexcusable and disingenuous to compare it to anywhere else.
@Anton Dec: Your friends saw a homeless guy in a major city everyday for a week and thought it was an art installation?Which magical American city has homeless people as art installations?Your friends are idiots.
@Anton Dec: maybe the council should round up all the beggars and lock them away so your American friends aren’t offended or think their walk is too full-on.
Ryan doing his best to remain relevant.
@Thought Criminal: I just hear Teletubby sounds when he speaks.
@Thought Criminal: It’s funny you think he was relevant.
Eamon Ryan is right. It’s a real pity that the city centre has been let get so tacky and shabby in recent years by the proliferation of banners and cheap advertising – many of which are unauthorised / illegal. It doesn’t happen in other European capitals. Dublin City Council should not be leading the way downward by tacking on shabby banners onto our iconic structures, but instead it would be better if they used their powers to enforce the law – and prevent further deterioration of the historic city centre.
@Ruadhán MacEoin:
Well let them start in O Connell St, the number of fast food eateries there is beyond comprehension.
Tourists should be able to photograph the bridge unbannered
@I get things wrong: Agreed, the banner obscures the junkies.
So did they get planning permission? Totally agree with Eamon Ryan, support the county by all means buy don’t deface one of the few iconic landmarks that we have.
@Chris: The state of the rusty piece of shit.
@Thought Criminal: What are you on about? It was fully renovated just a few years ago and has never looked better.
@Thought Criminal: You should have went to specsavers!
I fully support our Lord Mayor support our team .i love the banner well done Michael. Up the dubs it brought colour to the city we are Dublin
If it was any other county in Ireland playing in a final, there’d be banners and flags everywhere. It took DCC long enough to support the Dubs with flags etc so leave it alone.
Has Eamon Ryan nothing better to give out about?
It’s a temporary banner not graffiti.
Move over Clare, there’s a new Banner County
@iBob101: as Vincent Browne would say, “ahh very good, that’s very good.”
It’s actually a cracker. Good one.
Little to be worrying about. Be proud of your GAA county team.
What really brings down the tone of the city is vomit, trash and drunks every sat-sun morning in Temple Bar which is steps away from the bridge.
@Pavel Shipilov: Dublin isn’t just the city- there are hundreds of towns in Dublin. It’s the place in the world. Up the Dubs.
@Fabio Dillon: best **
@Fabio Dillon: Best place in the world? Jaysus, you need to get out more if you think that.
@Del Boy: I live in the Caribbean.
Jesus, all fine supporting your country with flags and banners on the streets, but that is just sheer manky!
Complete waste of Taxpayers money, council staff time to attach that eyesore of a banner too!
As mentioned previously, would the Mayor of Paris attach a banner to the Eiffel tower supporting the local Pétanque team?
Maybe the Mayor of Copenhagen will put the sport shirt of the local Lacrosse team on the bronze Mermaid statue?
@Dotty Dunleary: eamonn ryan is a complete waste of taxpayers money!
@Thomas Devlin: No more than any other politician! No need to single him out, he represents his constituents well.
Eamon Ryan’s desk must be very clear if he is complaining about a banner on a bridge -
The bridge is a piece of architecture that belongs to the Irish people not just the Dubs!
GAA followers would want to get over themselves and see the bigger picture.
Remove the banner. It’s just plain ridiculous
@@UK: it should be okay to put a kerry flag patricks bridge in cork then?after it belongs to us all!
Yawn. Get a grip on yourself man. Up the Dubs!
Absolutely ridiculous comment by Eamon Ryan. Nothing tacky about it. Does he think the various costumes on the Mannekin Pis bring the tone down in Brussels?? If this was a rugby banner he’d be all for it, I’m sure. Long time since he was in Croker I’d say (if he ever was)
Meh. 4 in a row coming up inanyways.
fill the flagpoles up the quays, or hang it on the boardwalk, but the ha’penny bridge is one of the most photographed sights in Dublin. You’d hardly drape St Patricks or Christ Church with it, or the Molly Malone or statue of Daniel O’Connell.
Fair play to dublin city council ,why would they not ,for christs sake,are we living in a society where this sort of thing offends someone ?we are not irish anymore if that is the case .from donegal to cork we love raising our banners .ryan has always been one big green tomato ,how he get elected is beyond me .good luck to the dubs .
Did Dublin City Council actually grant planning permission for this eyesore?
I think they were pushing it this year – having that poorly drawn plastic advert for gaa for over a week on pretty much the most famous photo opportunity in Dublin.
Let them put it on one of the many new horrible buildings we put up in Dublin City in recent years.
Mayo for Sam
@John Brennan: LOL!
So, a banner in Dublin supporting the Dublin GAA team was put up for a week and is now taken down again, and the perma-offended are up in arms again?
Some people…..
Hang the banner anywhere but not there. You can’t see the bridge properly….
Maybe it will unduly influence referees?
This debate reminds me of the remark about disputes between academic staff.
Such disputes are especially vicious because there is so little actually at stake.
Were back to the old, the Shinners did it……
The only thing that looks bad near the bridge is the Liffey. It’s a dirty looking kip the whole way along! Clean that up and don’t mind the banner.
Maybe its ok to have UP the PLO on a landmark
Can we leave the locks on it? Every city has similar very popular in France
@Fearghal Snow: No they don’t, the bridges weren’t designed to hold the weight of all those locks. Cities in Europe remove them now as they’re a safety hazard.
@Fearghal Snow @Darren Byrne: Just because they are popular doesn’t mean they are good. Maybe there was a time when this was cute but in an era of mass tourism that’s not the case.
Consider, at what point do they get removed? Who does the work? Who pays for it? Where do the old locks go? Who pays for the clean up? What about repairs? – Corrosion? New paint? Repair corrosion? New paint?
By all means hang nice blue flags along the promenade to bring some colour to the place for tourists and cheers to Dublin GAA fans. As for the bridge, it’s the capital city and this is a tourist site. It should be for everyone, not just Dubliners (I am a Dubliner). Don’t hide it behind a gaudy banner.
Brought to you by those wonderful people who agreed with Bob Geldof so much that they wouldn’t return his Freedom of the City (with or without tacky banners covering up popular tourism photo opportunities)
Hi Folks May I just say im very well to seeing on every bridge on the m4 all the way up to Dublin signs that say ,Good luck yo,Offaly,Galway ,Kildare even Kerry or Cork.but never Good luck Dublin,so well done Lord Mayor,thats a sickener for them and why they want a little moan about it.we may have sold out the land in Ireland but molly is still boss here.Up The Dubs.always.maybe Oconnell bridge next time.lol
“It’s something that the citizens look forward to and celebrate. I have never heard any objections. Most citizens welcome them and they mark a great achievement.”
“The Citizens” indeed. Are we living in Orwell’s 1984? Typical sinn fein speak
Have to agree but the general disrespect in this country to our flag is even worse . Hanging out of pub windows all hours of day and night and in all weathers …
@Joe O’riordan: We love our Flegs!
The city belongs to the Irish people, not just the Dubs
Just move it down the river to the Corporation offices and cover that eyesore up with the banner……
As a cork man living in Galway and having passed this at the weekend and i thought it was great!
Heard some US tourists giving out last week that they couldn’t get a photo of the haaaaalllfpennnny bridge because of it. They’re spot on it’s a landmark and the council should be ashamed of themselves covering it with tack.
Best compromise – we can all support tacky signs on iconic buildings and iconic signs on tacky buildings.
Maybe only tacky signs on tacky buildings? Iconic signs on iconic buildings?
Ryan had his chance while in power .I wouldn’t take anything he said seriously .when in government he done nothing . little sheep.time to shut up . people don’t forget what you done
@thomas mckevitt:
I wonder has ER ever cycled down near the h’penny bridge? Can’t you just hear him sing…
“I want to ride my bicycle bicycle bicycle
I want to ride my bicycle
I want to ride my bike
I want to ride my bicycle
I want to ride it where I like”
It looks ridiculous and cheap plastered across what is a very pleasant landmark. Put it on liberty hall or something, or that ugly rail bridge. Hopefully they do up a Leinster rugby one before the semi final too!
How many election posters will will be strewn across the country displaying Ireland’s most useless !!!!!
A crass shabby tacky defacing of a national monument
I wish these pathetic snowflakes would just f**k off and never come back or just go and live in your own tragic world where you can all offend each other and leave normal people to it, absolutely tragic.
@Jonny: You seem to be offended by the snowflakes? There is some irony in there.
@Johnny Bellew: they are freaks
In the words of John Cleese ‘everybody has the right not to be offended’
It is harmless. Pity though it was not in Irish too.
My issue with the banner is the wording. “Dublin City supporting The Dubs” Who else would Dublin support? Stupid
@Stipe Miocic: “Dublin City” Council………..
@Stipe Miocic: Dublin county?
Una Mulalley wants it taken down so that’s as good a reason as any to keep it up.
Hang it up on Matt molloys pub in Westport
Grand spot for it
F**k the Dubs
All the rubbish over the Banner annoys me , you know Mannix is the main offender for illegal offenses in Temple Bar
have your say