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The Púca statue will NOT be erected in Ennistymon - but other Clare towns might get it instead

The council u-turn follows an online survey of local opinion.

CLARE COUNTY COUNCIL will not proceed with the installation of the €30,000 Púca of Ennistymon artwork in the north Clare town.

Instead, the controversial sculpture is to be offered to other north Clare towns, villages and community operated tourism sites through an expressions of interest process to be announced shortly.

The council u-turn follows a council commissioned online survey of local opinion which found that from the 720 survey responses, 43.6% of respondents said they ‘really disliked’ the artwork compared to 34.3% who ‘really liked’ it.

In May of last year, the project was paused after a local outcry including parish priest, Fr Willie Cummins denouncing the bronze two metre high Púca from the altar at Sunday mass. 

Ennistymon based Senator Martin Conway (FG) said today that he welcomed the decision to relocate the Púca which is inspired by Irish folklore and the locality’s equine heritage. 

He said: “It is the right decision. The Púca wasn’t acceptable to Ennistymon and to the residents of Ennistymon. When you are dealing with spirits that have a mythical connotation, you have to be very careful with people’s feelings and people do take umbrage.” 

If something is divisive in a community, then it shouldn’t happen. We need to be careful about the statutes that we erect. 

The creator of the Púca, Aidan Harte said that a Council official had phoned him earlier in the day to confirm that the Puca will not be proceeding in Ennistymon.

Harte said that the Council official told him that the Puca in Ennistymon was untenable due to the threats of vandalism against it. 

Harte said that he was “disappointed” with the Council decision and that the online survey was a “nuts” way to decide the Puca’s fate in Ennistymon.

He said: “Once I heard about the poll, I thought ‘that’s it, it is doomed’. This was a gift to the opponents of the sculpture and fair play to them they have won the day. 

He said: “We live to fight another day and there are no hard feelings from me against the people who were set against it and I do hope they represent the feelings of the town otherwise it is a sad day.” 

Harte – who was a public commission to create the Puca for Ennistymon – said: “I am pretty confident that a good number of people who were against it would over time come to appreciate it if it was erected.” 

Mr Harte said that he will not proceed with any further work on the Púca until a fresh agreement is in place with the Council stating which alternative town or village it will be located in. 

He said: “It would be madness to proceed with the casting before knowing where it is going to go. If the Council has blinked once, why wouldn’t they blink again?” 

Harte said that he was not confident that the Púca will find an alternative location in Clare after what has happened in Ennistymon. 

Harte said that if another Clare community doesn’t want the Puca, he has solid offers for it from private individuals and also some institutions. 

“I want it to go somewhere where it is loved. I love the sculpture. I have sweated blood and tears to get it this far,” he said. 

Harte dismissed going down the legal route to have the Púca erected in Ennistymon. He said: “Why would I do that? That would be petty and small minded. I don’t want to cause more controversy in Ennistymon.” 

Ennistymon will not lose out on a new piece of artwork with a Council statement confirming that a new art piece for the Ennistymon project will be developed through a full public consultation process.

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    Mute melanie hilton
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    Aug 27th 2013, 10:32 PM

    Women should already know not to drink alcohol during pregnancy. .

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    Mute Adam Power
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    Aug 27th 2013, 10:36 PM

    Yet they still do it…

    55
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    Mute Charles O'Dowd
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    Aug 27th 2013, 10:39 PM

    If someone is stupid/selfish enough to drink alcohol during pregnancy a label isn’t going to deter them.

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    Mute melanie hilton
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    Aug 27th 2013, 10:42 PM

    Yes Adam they do..it’s sad really..9 months out of their lives and they risk birth defects and fetal alcohol syndrome..

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    Mute Fíona Barrett-Palfrey
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    Aug 27th 2013, 11:08 PM

    that and smoking! too many times you see women smoking, even worse when they are in their pj’s/dressing gown outside a hospital while they are in to have a baby! unreal! I’d give anything to have a baby & people who drink & smoke while pregnant sicken me!

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    Mute Dave Dson
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    Aug 27th 2013, 11:20 PM

    Warning!: Avoid alcohol, that’s why you got pregnant in the first place. Remember now?

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    Mute Rísteard Ó Muineacháin
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    Aug 27th 2013, 11:39 PM

    Cant walk past the smoking area outside the rotunda…

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    Mute Eighties BlackGuy
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    Aug 27th 2013, 10:46 PM

    Pitchforks and misinformation abound this evening!

    Drinking alcohol in moderation during pregnancy is not in any way harmful to the unborn baby. Here is one of many articles from this year:

    http://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2013/jun/18/drinking-moderation-pregnancy-baby-development

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    Mute Doey Walsh
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    Aug 27th 2013, 10:52 PM

    Some people listen to gossip
    I listen to doctors,
    not like these girls are getting dressed up to the nines and going to a nightclub
    An odd glass of wine ain’t going to hurt anyone :)

    54
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    Mute Michele Savage
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    Aug 28th 2013, 12:04 AM

    That article is cannot be rated as a definitive declaration of the presence or otherwise of the full range of possible outcomes from prenatal alcohol exposure. It was not a FASD-specific comprehensive assessment, but it is a reflection of the general widespread lack of understanding and of diagnostic services.

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    Mute Bronagh Butler
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    Aug 27th 2013, 10:38 PM

    “An alcohol lobby group wants to waste funding pointing out what women already know” should be the sub-heading.

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    Mute Tokidoll
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    Aug 27th 2013, 10:49 PM

    Bit confused by this article. They are calling for the labels on foot of a MARKED REDUCTION in pregnant drinkers, not an increase. Seems odd.

    Every bottle of wine or beer I pick up seems to have a picture of a pregnant woman on it with a strike- through line as a warning. Seems like the job is already done.

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    Mute Fíona Barrett-Palfrey
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    Aug 27th 2013, 11:09 PM

    I noticed those pictures on drinks already too, but I suppose they want it to be clearer, like on a pack of cigarettes! Not that those images or messages put smokers off smoking!

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    Mute Mark
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    Aug 27th 2013, 11:45 PM

    Thought that too. Two things seems odd:
    1. It’s already decreasing
    2. The “alcohol lobby”, are the ones that produce the labels. If they want warnings on them why don’t they just put them there?

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    Mute Dave Dson
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    Aug 27th 2013, 10:41 PM

    Warning: Eight of these and you are like a bicycle. Everybody will want a go.

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    Mute Pauliebhoy
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    Aug 27th 2013, 11:23 PM

    And if your kidnapped they’ll kidnap you right back when left outside a church

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    Mute Mel Finn
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    Aug 27th 2013, 10:41 PM

    Ha That picture represents the sillouette of all the chaps drinking in my local, should there be a beer gut warning…..( including moobs)

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    Mute Mary Kavanagh
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    Aug 28th 2013, 12:12 AM

    Haha! That reminds me of going swimming when 7 months pregnant (had sciatica and couldn’t walk much). I was shy going into the pool area for the first time in my swim suit but I needn’t have worried. Most of the men had bigger bellies than I had!

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    Mute Joe Kelly
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    Aug 27th 2013, 10:58 PM

    Opportunism on the part of the drinks lobby. They get to pretend they’re concerned when sales to pregnant women are pretty much non existent anyway. Let’s see how they would react if warnings re. excessive use, including recommended weekly limits, are proposed for all alcoholic beverages.

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    Mute Noel Hogan
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    Aug 27th 2013, 11:05 PM

    I’ve seen kids with Foetal Alcohol Syndrome, not a pretty sight. Really has opened my eyes to the awfulness of alcoholism. If it even leads to a 1% reduction in this it’ll be worth it.

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    Mute Mary Cullinane
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    Aug 27th 2013, 10:39 PM

    I agree with u Melanie, it’s well known that drinking & smoking should be totally avoided during pregnancy but I suppose there’s always the couple that will say they didn’t know so if warnings will make any difference it can only be a good thing.

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    Mute Bronagh Butler
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    Aug 27th 2013, 10:43 PM

    If parents are stupid enough to claim ignorance like that then there’d little hope for their child already!

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    Mute Bronagh Butler
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    Aug 27th 2013, 10:44 PM

    There’d be*

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    Mute Stephanie Fleming
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    Aug 27th 2013, 11:07 PM

    It’s actually not well known. It’s well known that a glass of wine a day is acceptable. It’s also well known that a glass a week is acceptable. It’s also well known that small amours are good for development.

    What I’m saying is that we don’t know for sure.

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    Mute Michele Savage
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    Aug 27th 2013, 11:55 PM

    All alcohol consumed reaches the fetus. How can that be o.k.?

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    Mute Stephanie Fleming
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    Aug 28th 2013, 12:11 AM

    Alcohol can be processed by the body. It’s toxic in certain amounts, not any amount, just like many many other things we consume daily.

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    Mute Dave Hammond
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    Aug 28th 2013, 5:46 AM

    Warning signs…..about as useful as chocolate teapots these days , I bought a bag of peanuts in Tesco and noticed there was a helpful Warning Sign in red type no less…saying it contained nuts….I mean it’s a bag of peanuts what type of idiot needs a warning that a bag if peanuts contains nuts ….this my friends is us entering the new world of warning signs…proceed with caution..

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    Mute mr_bean_007
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    Aug 27th 2013, 10:56 PM

    This is already in place in the UK.
    Doesn’t stop pregnant chavs drinking…

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    Mute Joanne Cussen
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    Aug 27th 2013, 11:55 PM

    Doctors need to be clearer on the effects alcohol can have on unborn baby … its not spoken about often enough’ I think its just one of these things that people presume you won’t do while pregnant but in fact a lot of people either have a glass of wine week , a day some even go on benders and not know the consequence’ alcohol was not mentioned n my first hospital visit when I was pregnant’ I never did drink while pregnant and never would but the dangers ard not spoken about .

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    Mute Mary Mcmahon
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    Aug 28th 2013, 1:22 AM

    Why are there no health warnings on alcohol ,it causes more health problems and violence then smoking ,the drinks industry must have more clout then the tobacco industry.

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    Mute AlanH -AFC
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    Aug 27th 2013, 10:42 PM

    Iv a bottle of moet and it has a pic of pregnant silhouette with the warning under it. Not that hard to include on other drinks. Although I certainly agree they shouldn’t need to be warned about the dangers of drinking.

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    Mute Michele Savage
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    Aug 28th 2013, 12:22 AM

    # FASD
    #ARND
    #Fetal Alcohol Syndrome
    #Warning labels
    #drinks industry
    #Alcoholic Beverage Federation of Ireland

    Neither a minute pictogram nor the message required by the U.S., which warns only of birth defects, go anywhere near warning about the lifelong CNS damage often manifesting in ADHD and/or Autistic Spectrum characteristics, learning, behavioural and ultimately psychiatric difficulties, including a propensity for addiction, even where infants seem ‘perfect’ at birth.

    The alcoholic beverage industry has repeatedly failed to universally warn its customers of the dangers which that drug can cause even in our earliest stages of formation, so their turning all the blame for delay in labelling back on a government can only be viewed with cynicism.

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    Mute Tommy Crotty
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    Aug 28th 2013, 4:48 PM

    I only have one with a fag!!

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