Dublin city council is considering a proposal to put the statue of Molly Malone on a pedestal, following a campaign attempting to get the public to show the famous figure more respect.

DCC has reportedly asked tourist companies to stop telling visitors that rubbing the statue's breasts brings luck.

The Suffolk street statue has become discoloured from tourists and locals alike groping the figure’s breasts.

The ‘Leave Molly mAlone’ campaign has reached its first anniversary, with busker Tilly Cripwell releasing two verses of a Molly Malone inspired song tomorrow for International Women's Day by the statue at 3pm.

Ms Cripwell's performance will mark the end of the Rosa international march against gender based violence, which starts tomorrow at Liberty Hall at 1pm.

The song will also be released on Spotify.

The Molly Malone statue in Dublin City Centre after suffering vandalism for a second time in a week. 22-08-2023. Image: Sasko Lazarov/RollingNews

Ms Cripwell said the city council is considering her suggestion to put Molly on a pedestal.

She wants the public to show the statue more respect, after years of busking alongside it.

The busker said a lot of the time she performs by the statue, she would be “disturbed and disrupted” by “rowdy behaviour around the statue”.

“It got me thinking - this is one of the few representations of women in Irish culture and it was annoying having all the rowdy behaviour around it,” Ms Cripwell said.

“I thought, ‘Why should this actually be reduced to her breasts, basically, to support this tradition that's come out of it?’”

Tour group on a walking tour at the molly malone statue in dublin city centre at its previous location. Image: Alamy

Ms Cripwell said groping Molly Malone’s breasts is “disrespectful”.

“It is disrespectful and I think people take their liberties just because she's wearing what's supposedly a busty dress, but actually, first and foremost, she was a fish wife and she was prominent and renowned for that and that's what the song commemorates,” she said.

“She actually has recently been proven to have been a non-fictional character, she really existed.

“There have been records found in a random book shop in Wales recently, she really existed, and she was prolific in the streets of Dublin and yet what people choose to remember her for is this speculation that she was a lady of the night - unconfirmed.”

Main image shows Molly Malone after the second time she was vandalised, 19-09-2023. Image: Leah Farrell/RollingNews

Ms Cripwell said while people say it’s “just a statue”, the meaning behind statues needs to be remembered.

“A lot of people do say it's just a statue, but actually, all statues are made to immortalise people who are no longer living, so how can you take away the symbolism of a statue just so that you can behave inappropriately around them?” she asked.

“The council are listening because they recognise it as something that's disrespectful, both to the culture and it's a nightmare for them to restore her and everything."

Ms Cripwell said the council see grounds behind elevating the statue of Molly Malone to “the level she should be at in culture”.

The Molly Malone statue in Dublin city centre was vandalised with green writing. Photo: via Twitter

There was a mixed reaction from tourists and locals about elevating the statue.

Tourists who were informed that the rumours around luck coming from rubbing Molly’s breasts were untrue said they would see no appeal in groping the statue.

The famous Molly Malone Statue in Dublin, Ireland. Image: Alamy