Security fears allayed for Icarus at new home

ICARUS won’t be flying the coop from its new home on the Rocky Road Roundabout in Ennis, council officials have assured.

A number of roadside public sculptures by well-known artists have fallen into the hands of thieves looking for metal to sell but measures have been put in place to ensure the same fate does not happen to the John Behan sculpture.
Town manager Ger Dollard confirmed efforts have been made to secure the statue, although he would not specify what measures are in place as this could undermine their effectiveness.
Councillor Mary Howard raised concerns about Icarus’ security in its new residence recently. “I’m delighted to see it at the Rocky Road Roundabout, it’s a fabulous sculpture. It’s such a valuable piece but is it secure?” she queried, adding that the sculpture should be floodlit.
Mr Dollard explained that while it would be “lovely to have it floodlit, it would cost a significant amount of money and I don’t see it happening in the short-term”.
Speaking about the security of the statue, he stated, “We are conscious of the issues that have been going on around the country that a number of public art pieces have disappeared. We have taken certain measures to ensure it will stay where it is”.
County arts officer Siobhán Mulcahy told The Clare Champion the issue of stolen public art works is something that has been raised and that the arts office, along with the council’s area engineers, are looking at ways to address it.
“There was, unfortunately, a spate of incidences of this earlier in the year in different parts of the country but it seems to have abated, possibly due to the publicity surrounding it,” she said.
The statue, known as Icarus, is the work of John Behan and was presented to the people of Ennis by Guinness Peat Aviation to mark the town’s 750th anniversary in 1990.