A Dublin homeowner says she's "very disappointed" after the local council refused permission for her to keep a mural on the front of her home.
Cathy McGovern commissioned Irish artist Solus to paint the two-storey mural, which depicts a pair of 'boxing ballerinas'.
However, the council raised objections as Cathy hadn't applied for planning permission for the piece.
Speaking on Lunchtime Live, Cathy said she was inspired to commission the mural after seeing similar work by the award-winning artist.
She explained: “It went up in the summertime, and within a few weeks I got a notice from the council to remove it.”
After that notice, Cathy worked with a local architect to put in a retention application.
However, on Friday she got a notice saying that the application had been declined, with four main objections to its retention cited.
It's claimed keeping the artwork would adversely impact on the visual amenity of the area, depreciate the value of property in the area, and set an “undesirable precedent”.
Cathy insists that "there were no objections" from the public about the mural, with the council instead raising planning concerns.
She said she's had an "overwhelmingly positive" response to the mural since it went up.
She said: “From the second it went up… neighbours said they absolutely loved it. People regularly knock on my door and ask me about the art.
“Obviously, not everyone is going to love it… but in terms of engaging with the community, it has been nothing but positive.”
Murals
Solus, meanwhile, said he's disappointed but not surprised that the council has said the artwork has to be removed.
He said: "This kind of artform is temporary in nature, because it’s often only lasting a short period of time.
“The last thing I want to do is depreciate the value of neighbours’ houses… but I don’t believe that is true. If I did think that, I wouldn’t have done it in the first place.”
He does believe the rules in Ireland around artwork on private property are too restrictive compared to elsewhere in Europe or in the US.
He observed: “I paint a lot in New York… it’s a lot more easy-going there, and people embrace it a lot better.
“Generally, if there are murals in the area, it becomes a more desirable area for coffee shops and people want to hang out there more. But Ireland seems to have a different view on it.”
He added that he can understand why there would be problems when it comes to advertising murals, but he believes artwork should be treated differently to ads.
Cllr Maurice Dockrell, a local Fine Gael councillor, said he's disappointed and surprised that the council refused to let the piece stay up.
He said there can't be a "free for all" when it comes to this kind of thing, and there have to be rules to stop ads, political slogans or offensive artworks being plastered everywhere.
However, he said this was simply a "very visually appealing piece".
The councillor suggested there now needs to be a conversation about whether we just want everything looking the same or whether we want people to "innovate and beautify their houses".
