Galway's decapitated statue of the writer Padraic O Conaire will be restored, the City Manager, Mr Joe Gavin, has pledged. There is no question of the original being replaced by a replica, he said.
Since the author of M'Asal Beag Dubh lost his head in Eyre Square earlier this month, some experts have questioned the value of restoration. The missing head was recovered by gardai several hours after the decapitation was reported, and four youths are due to appear in court on May 17th, charged with damaging the city's best-known public artwork.
The corporation has consulted experts in stonework, including a Dublin firm which repaired the statue several years ago.
"The difficulty is that the sculptor, Albert Power, worked from one solid block of limestone," Mr Gavin told The Irish Times. "It may never look the same, but we hope to do our best."
The head is currently in Garda custody, and will be returned when no longer required for evidence. Since the beheading, the statue has become a major tourist attraction.
The incident has also revived interest in the work of Albert Power (1881-1945), the sculptor and designer, who has been compared to Rodin. The artist's biographer, Mr Dara O Conaola, said that the damage highlighted the urgent need to provide protection for some of the State's most precious public artworks.
Mr O Conaola, who is author of Saol agus Saothar - Albert Power, published by Ceard Shiopa Teo, said that it also reflected the public attitude to some of our finest artists, who have been taken for granted. "Albert Power was a sculptor who left his mark on the cultural landscape of Ireland," he said.
Power attended the Dublin School of Art and served time with George Smyth, a descendant of the famous 18th-century stone sculptor, Edward Smyth. His work was not confined to Dublin, and can still be seen at Mullingar Cathedral and outside Carndonagh Church in Co Donegal, while his Connemara Trout is on display in the National Gallery in Dublin.
Earlier this week Galway Corporation also agreed to initiate measures to protect trees and woodlands in the rapidly developing city area.
The corporation is to carry out a survey of the entire borough area with a view to making tree preservation orders where necessary in areas zoned as residential. The public has been invited to contribute to the survey.
