A STATUE erected in honour of the Dubliners' frontman Luke Kelly has been vandalised for a fourth time.
The Sheriff Street statue, which is one of two erected in Dublin in tribute to the iconic musician on the 35th anniversary of his death in January 2019, has been the subject of mindless vandalism three other times in the past year alone.
Local Councillor Anthony Flynn took to social media to voice his anger over the statue being targeted yet again, condemning the disrespect it shows to both the man and the community.
"This is really unbelievable," Cllr Flynn wrote on Facebook.
"You'd think that people would have some decency, and some respect more importantly."
Claiming that it unlikely to be people from the local community who were behind the repeat attacks, Cllr Flynn continued: "This isn't people from ... Sheriff Street that are doing this.
"Should be completely ashamed of yourselves."
Fine Gael Councillor Ray Mc Adam was also among those voicing his frustration at the repeat offences, calling those responsible "mindless idiots".
"Seriously?! What is the problem with some people?" Councillor Mc Adam wrote.
"This is the umpteenth time in as many months that the [Luke Kelly] statue in [North Wall] has been denigrated and graffitied!"
The inner city statue was first targeted just months after being erected, drawing fury from locals who condemned the mockery of a Dublin legend.
Despite not being surprised, I’m outrageously angry about this https://t.co/wMHEKU9FcO
— Susan Daly (@BiddyEarly) June 25, 2019
The statue has now been vandalised three further times, each time being daubed with paint in the shape of sunglasses around his eyes, indicating that it is the same vandals behind each offence.
Luke Kelly statue defaced again #LukeKelly pic.twitter.com/gyG7YRNWay
— FM104 (@FM104) January 14, 2020
There have been renewed calls for CCTV to be erected in the area to prevent yet more vandalism of the statue from taking place, with many on social media lamenting the fact that the offences are so prevalent.
Luke Kelly was born in Dublin in 1940. He was one of the founding members of The Dubliners and quickly rose to prominence in the folk and traditional music scene.
He died in 1984 at the age of 43.
