by Kathy Masterson
LIMERICK City and County Council is to carry out an inventory of the public monuments located in the city and their state of repair.
At this month’s meeting of the Metropolitan District, independent councillor John Gilligan called on the local authority to upgrade existing monuments in the city and provide a display giving the history of Limerick people who rose to prominence around the world.
Referring to the ‘Wild Geese’ statue located on Merchant’s Quay, Cllr Gilligan said: “They’re now more like a couple of dead ducks than wild geese.”
He added that there should be a visual display on “what happened to the Wild Geese after they left”.
Cllr Gilligan also suggested that the statue of Patrick Sarsfield should be moved to a more prominent position on John’s Square.
“Let’s take a look at what’s there already and try to bring it up to the standard that it should be,” he commented
Limerick City and County Council deputy CEO Pat Dowling said: “Unfortunately not all citizens treat their locality with the same respect as we do.”
He added that the fountain beneath the Wild Geese sculpture has been repaired on numerous occasions but “every time we fix it, it gets broken again. People keep damaging it”.
The Wild Geese monument, sculptured by William H. Turner, was a gift from the government of Spokane in Washington, USA to honour the families that were forced to flee Limerick following the siege.
