Comments on: “who pull down statues, who deny the history of any place”

By: joeCanuck

joeCanuck — Wed, 04 Aug 2010 06:36:05 +0000

like it or not these memorials are part of OUR history

Agree. If allowed to remain they can be come focal points to discuss our shared history which can only lead to discussions as to how we can move forward, together.

By: Cushy Glenn

Cushy Glenn — Tue, 03 Aug 2010 09:33:30 +0000

…I am utterly opposed to a statue for William Walker. He is my second cousin. I think George Walker might be more deserving however….

By: fitzjameshorse1745

fitzjameshorse1745 — Mon, 02 Aug 2010 00:02:57 +0000

Oh I certainly take the point that statues are an older form of “art” as well as making a “political point” in many cases.

The statues of Walker, the memorial to Browning and the Cenotaph all “say something” …..whether in the form of “traditional statues” or other memorial set an atmosphere.

The Bloody Sunday Memorial, Free Derry Corner, the H Block Memorial, countless memorials to the IRA in towns and villages and various parts of Belfast provide a change in Ambience……which are as much part of the New Order as William Walkers one handed statue.

By: John East Belfast

John East Belfast — Sun, 01 Aug 2010 23:15:48 +0000

FJH

Statues are from a day when there was no photography let alone other forms of modern media.

Hence you have to have done something very special to justify a statue in the 21st century and none of the people you mention fall into that category.

God help us though if another behind the scenes deal is done between DUP and SF and we get Paisley and Adams somewhere.

By: fitzjameshorse1745

fitzjameshorse1745 — Sun, 01 Aug 2010 20:25:21 +0000

Indeed Reader.
as a rule, we should not erect statues to the Living.
But its a reasonable bet that some of those I mentioned will have a statue erected in their honour.
No doubt many Sluggerites would like to be re-incarnated as a pigeon if thats the case.
Having been in Derry on Friday. ..gallery featuring work by Bogside “artists” (sic) being part of the day, one cannot help notice the number of monuments in the Bogside.
Of course the Cenotaph i the Diamond or even Roaring Meg or Walker are prominent landmarks in the CITY itself and it strikes me as only right that some monuments depicting another aspect (the majority culture after all) might be given at least equal prominence.
The whining of Derry unionists that their culture is being undermined should be treated with contempt.

By: Reader

Reader — Sun, 01 Aug 2010 10:21:15 +0000

fitzjameshorse: John Hume, Dana, Phil Coulter, Bishop Edward Daly, Martin McGuinness
Who knows? Statues may eventually come back into fashion. These days we tend to have murals and airports instead. Bishop Daly has his mural and he is still alive.

By: fitzjameshorse1745

fitzjameshorse1745 — Sun, 01 Aug 2010 03:36:47 +0000

I daresay that William Walker did contribute something to the City of Derry and its right and fitting that he should have a statue.
I dont suppose any of us would quibble with the notion that people of import deserve a statue.
Which means that many more Derry people will eventually be immortalised in public art form………..John Hume, Dana, Phil Coulter, Bishop Edward Daly, Martin McGuinness ……it would be a travesty if William Walker was not among them.

By: Alan Maskey

Alan Maskey — Sat, 31 Jul 2010 20:21:22 +0000

Good post Mr Baker. It is always refreshing to be reminded what total idiots the leaders of Sinn Fein are.

By: A N Other

A N Other — Sat, 31 Jul 2010 19:49:28 +0000

Dear Mr Baker

I think it is really time that you learnt to transcend the narrow confines of your own self-regarding, fearful egotism, in which “you” have become the measure of all things. Perhaps you could beging by getting yourself a copy of this book, and God forbid, reading it …

http://url.ie/7059

By: Co. Down Man

Co. Down Man — Sat, 31 Jul 2010 18:30:19 +0000

Peter do you ever stop… boring same awl shite.

By: Cynic

Cynic — Sat, 31 Jul 2010 17:06:29 +0000

… thyey didnt ….we now have an open democracy with republican and nationalist MLAS sitting alongside Unionist colleagues in a NI Assembly even more firmly embedded in the UK

By: Greenflag

Greenflag — Sat, 31 Jul 2010 16:38:18 +0000

Given a choice between the present stiffy near the Liffey or Nelson’s Pillar -I think most Dubs would prefer the Pillar . At least Horatio had some character and the steps could be climbed to get a view of the city . The Pillar was the recognised centre of the city . Ask anybody where An Lar is and they’ll say It’s somewhere between Parnell St and Stephens Green ;(

I’LL see at An Lar has never caught on .

By: bobbydylan

bobbydylan — Sat, 31 Jul 2010 15:51:15 +0000

i take it from G Kelly’s statement that Carson and Craig’s statues in Stormont will be staying.

perhaps if we just weld a hurling stick into Carson’s upraised hand then the volunteers will rest easy that they didnt die in vain

By: Paul Evans

Paul Evans — Sat, 31 Jul 2010 13:29:19 +0000

Up Went Nelson! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K4z1TfcQMkU

By: Greenflag

Greenflag — Sat, 31 Jul 2010 13:09:27 +0000

These acts of vandalism should be condemned by all . Whether some of our blimpish statue bombers like it or not these memorials are part of OUR history .

Now here’s a Dubliner with a proper perspective of the ‘statue ‘ bombers ‘ The original of the species I might add . A warning -not for those with sensitive ears who find the grating Dublin accent not to their liking . But f**k them anyway

Enjoy Capper being recimitated I believe by an unnamed Irish Senator ))

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GZ1mB37bdFg

By: fair_deal

fair_deal — Sat, 31 Jul 2010 13:07:21 +0000

“As the news report makes clear this isn’t the first assault on a statue of the Governor – the original was destroyed in an IRA bomb attack in 1973.”

It isn’t the first assault on the replica either – within a short time of it being installed it was dammaged with sledge hammers.

By: Brian Walker

Brian Walker — Sat, 31 Jul 2010 09:24:15 +0000

Ah, nice to be back to familiar themes – especially after a visit to the Maiden City. Actually the statue of my namesake ( no relation) survives, minus only a hand, in the little open air memorial beside the Apprentice Boys Memorial Hall in Society St, which itself contains a fine and growing museum, open to all. The pillar on which the Gov stood was brought down from its plinth in a bastion of the walls, yards away above the old flashpoint of the now demolished Rossville flats in the Bogside. The big inscribed base survives. Aesthetically,whatever you think of the associations, the graceful pillar at the broadest part of the walls, the Grand Parade, is a sad loss. Yes, they did burn the big effigy of Lundy stuffed with fireworks on the side of the pillar every year. The debris wasn’t appreciated over the wall in the little streets of Nailor’s Row and Walker Square. The royal statues inside the Guildhall also survive, with very slight damage. Are they trying to tell us something? I’m not aware of any political move to shift them.

By: Rory Carr

Rory Carr — Sat, 31 Jul 2010 06:36:04 +0000

If the TUV are so keen on the demolition of unsightly constructions emblematic of an horrific past couldn’t they lead by example and self-destruct?

By: old school

old school — Sat, 31 Jul 2010 01:44:18 +0000

Who blew up Governer Walker’s statue on the Walls?
And which former Sinn Fein Councillor was charged with blowing up a statue of Queen Victoria inside the Guildhall?
And was there ever an explanation given as to why poor Bob Warwick had has wee paint shop on the Strand Road bombed 21 times?

By: fitzjameshorse1745

fitzjameshorse1745 — Sat, 31 Jul 2010 01:26:18 +0000

I was actually in Derry City today, showing an American visitor around….wandering about the city centre and Bogside. taking pics etc.
Although I am a fairly regular visitor, my visits rarely take in the city centre.
Yet today, I could not locate a statue which I thought was outside the “Everything £1 Shop” of migrants ……have they moved it too?
Also theres still a plaque honouring the Captain of the Mountjoy opposite the Guidhall. Surely a better target than Walker….not that I approve of that sorta thing.