THERE HAS BEEN widespread condemnation after a statue of Luke Kelly was vandalised in Dublin city this evening.

The statue on Sheriff Street was this evening discovered daubed in black paint and the incident has been reported to gardaí. 

Local councillor Anthony Flynn described it as aa “absolute ridiculous act of vandalism” and something which “mocks the memory of an inner city icon”.

He added: “This is a completely mindless & senseless act of vandalism that the local community are condemning as a whole. The defacing of the Luke Kelly memorial statute mocks the memory of a man who was born just around the corner and gave so much in terms of music. I have liaised with local Gardai and CCTV of the area is being reviewed with the hope of catching the perpetrators.”

Two statues to the Dublin icon were unveiled to the public earlier this year – one on Sheriff Street with the other on South King Street near Grafton Street.

Kelly was born in 1940 and grew up in Sheriff Street in Dublin’s north inner city. One of the original members of The Dubliners, formed in 1962, his powerful singing voice marked him out as one Ireland’s finest folk singers until his death in 1984 aged 43.