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Dublin's Phil Lynott statue has disappeared. Again. But we know where he is this time

The well-known statue has been removed by Dublin City Council to facilitate the repaving of Harry Street.

The Phil Lynott statue which was unveiled on Friday in his memory,pictured in Harry St Dublin.20/8/2005 Photo:Leon Farrell Photocall Ireland Rollingnews.ie Rollingnews.ie

THE WELL-KNOWN statue of Thin Lizzy rocker Phil Lynott in Dublin city centre has disappeared from its moorings.

The statue, which has become something of a tourist fixture on Harry Street, just off Grafton Street, went missing late on Friday evening.

Since being unveiled by Lynott’s (who died in 1986) mother Philomena in 2005, the statue has been removed a number of times, mostly for repairs.

In fact, the bronze sculpture’s most recent disappearance was as recently as early this year, when it sustained damage after being hit by a truck. It was returned to its iconic station in late May.

So you might have expected it to remain in place for a little longer than the five months it has.

However, there is no need for concern – Dublin City Council confirmed to TheJournal.ie that Phil has been put ‘in storage’ for a few months to allow for the repaving of Harry Street.

“They’re about to start the repaving works,” a spokesperson told us.

“They probably took it away late at night so as not to upset pedestrians.”

The whole thing is part of the upgrade of the Grafton Street’s pedestrianisation.

So we can expect to see Phil back in town in due course?

“He’ll be back some time after Christmas we estimate,” the spokesperson said.

The statue has become a well-loved part of the furniture between Bruxelles and McDaids pubs, just off Dublin’s main shopping thoroughfare.

But it has suffered its fair share of indignities over its 12-year existence.

The statue’s guitar has been stolen at least once, while in May 2013 two men were arrested after pushing the statue over and seriously damaging its coat.

In September 2015, meanwhile, another motorist accidentally hit the sculpture, leaving Lynott with a broken bass guitar and several loose strings.

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    Mute Dan Higgins
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    Sep 30th 2015, 6:55 AM

    An electric fence to stop swimmers going in would probably be more effective!

    266
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    Mute Pauliebhoy
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    Sep 30th 2015, 7:37 AM

    Doubt it, humans are pretty dumb

    140
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    Mute Keith Ryan
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    Sep 30th 2015, 7:10 AM

    Unprecedented for sharks to attack you in their home!! Their bloody home. Sharks never attack anything dry. Remember that.

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    Mute Jake Race
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    Sep 30th 2015, 8:56 AM

    Increased shark attacks are a good indicator of over-fishing. This is a band-aid solution to a much bigger problem that is being ignored.

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    Mute Joe Bloggs
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    Sep 30th 2015, 12:29 PM

    Feed the sharks. Let them know it’s Christmas time.

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    Mute Brendan
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    Sep 30th 2015, 8:51 AM

    Dame sharks looking for meal how dare they!

    Rule should be simple, enter the water and you make yourself shark bate end of, no one else’s fault when you lose your limbs

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    Mute Patrick Brennan
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    Oct 1st 2015, 8:18 AM

    What’s a Dame shark? One that’s received an order of the British Empire?

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    Mute Al Fonso
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    Sep 30th 2015, 9:02 AM

    Aren’t selfie-sticks even more dangerous?

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    Mute Rashers Tierney
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    Sep 30th 2015, 3:12 PM

    Australia (or anyone else) has no right to “get tough with sharks”. FFS. The oceans are their element – they can exist nowhere else. They are an essential part of the chain of life and they’re being slaughtered in their millions because of a stupid film, and Chinese superstition. Swim in a bleedin’ pool if you’re too warm, Ozzies, or take to the sea when there are no sharks present. Also, cut down on the over fishing – everything in the ocean is hungrier than ever because we are sweeping it of all food sources..

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    Mute Del Haven
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    Sep 30th 2015, 11:29 AM

    Has anyone even considered sending some Marines in to infiltrate and bite the sharks?

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    Mute John Kent
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    Sep 30th 2015, 2:02 PM

    Funny, reading this you’d think its a mass shark feeding frenzy out there. But I was down at bondi beach yesterday and as usual there were about 100 surfers in the water. They don’t seem too bothered. Wouldn’t get me in there though, fook that. Maybe I need to stay off the journal for a while..

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    Mute The Guru
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    Sep 30th 2015, 2:14 PM

    Sharks are massive, unpredictable and have big teeth. All makes for good news. Hundreds of thousands of Australians enjoy the water every week without being attacked. Things that people fear and things that are likely to kill them are very different things.

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    Mute space invader
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    Sep 30th 2015, 8:54 AM

    Turning the sea into a zoo they are.

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    Mute Dubabroad
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    Sep 30th 2015, 8:04 PM

    Erm. . The sharks are doing the same thing they’ve been doing for around 450 MILLION YEARS.. they’ve been on the planet longer than humans and survived 5 mass extinctions, yet now in 2015 they’re suddenly the bad guys becsuse idiots can’t leave them to their natural habitat.

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    Mute d
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    Sep 30th 2015, 4:09 PM

    The chances of having an encounter with a shark are slim to none. You enter the water at your own risk.

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    Mute Jimmy Murphy
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    Oct 1st 2015, 12:05 AM

    Forgive me for going off topic, but wow, what a picture. Great snap. That seal must have more lives than a cat.

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    Mute Patrick Brennan
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    Oct 1st 2015, 8:17 AM

    Get out of the water!!

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    Mute Lolo
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    Oct 1st 2015, 2:31 AM

    Poor Jaws gets a bad rep..It’s not the worst of the bunch. http://m.thenewdaily.com.au/news/2015/06/26/deadliest-australian-animals/

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