Funding sought for monument

LOCAL artist Barry Wrafter is seeking funding to produce a special monument to the victims of industrial schools and clerical abuse in Clare and Ireland in general.
The sculptor, along with local councillors Paul O’Shea, Johnny Flynn and Michael Guilfoyle, has set up a fundraising committee and the county council is to match funds gathered as part of this effort.
Barry has come up with the drawings and a model of this proposed monument and he is now putting it to the public.
He explained that it is his intention to have the piece in full colour to represent a bright future to show that the world is not all bad. He said his piece aims “to show this is the past but to remember the past”.
Outlining the reasons behind his intended art piece, Barry stated, “This should be a monument for future generations. This monument is to show solidarity with the victims. I decided this was one theme I would like to take on as it would be a great challenge to come up with an idea for this. I was moved by what I had heard in relation to this issue.
“So after thorough research into the background of this subject, I decided it would have to be a monument worthy of the theme. I decided on the theme of two children, maybe a brother and sister who have been through the trauma of these schools.
“They are wearing clothes that are suitable for the time and they have a shabby look to them to show some of the hurt and neglect they endured. The boy comforts his sister with consoling arms around her and they are made in childlike form.
“They both have the thousand-yard stare from the images they have seen in their short lives but have grown up before their time. The teddy bear sitting in front of them is a visual metaphor for the pain they endured. He is dishevelled and broken, a symbol of their broken dreams of their future and the adult world that has betrayed their trust.
“It is the bear that conveys the message. He shields his eyes from the visions of the collective past,” Barry explained.
The Wheels Within Wheels organisation has pledged its support for the efforts of the Ennis artist and are expected to announce their contribution to the project at an event next month.
Barry is now seeking the public’s support and anyone with fundraising ideas or who would like to get involved is asked to contact Barry on 0876546678, Paul on 0860677762, Johnny on 0872571842 or Michael on 0851743188.