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A NUMBER OF murals painted on McGowan’s Pub in Harold’s Cross, Dublin City are to be removed following an order from the council.
The murals depict a Palestinian woman holding a child wrapped in a flag, children playing with blocks spelling out “peace” and “please”, and watermelon slices, which have become a symbol of the Palestinian liberation movement.
The owner of the pub Bernard McGowan says he welcomed the murals intitally because they help to deter vandals.
I’ve always found putting up a mural stops 99% of vandals.
The murals were painted 15 months ago and it was only in recent days that the council informed the pub that they would have to be covered.
McGowan thinks the action may have come from a complaint made by an individual.
During 2024, the council was alerted to a number of pieces of graffiti that supported both sides of the conflict between Israel and Palestine, which members of the public deemed offensive.
These included reports of “free Palestine” slogans.
Members of the public can use an online portal to flag graffiti, including graffiti that is racist, offensive or political, which the council pledges to remove within 48 hours of it being reported.
The McGowan’s Pub murals have garnered a lot of attention recently, McGowan says, with many people coming especially to view them.
They’re not the first murals the pub has displayed. During the pandemic, the same painter, Emmalene Blake, painted a mural in support of frontline workers. McGowan says there was no problem with it.
“We wanted to thank frontline workers for all their work,” he explained.
“We put a big huge massive [mural] of that and nobody objected – and neither did the council, by the way.”
In a statement, a spokesperson for Dublin City Council said of the recent peace murals: ”This matter is the subject of a live planning enforcement investigation. No further comment can therefore be made at this time.”
In a post to Instagram, street artist Blake said they and McGowan initially wanted to fight the council’s decision but “due to circumstances beyond our control we are unable to”. They will paint over the murals next week.
McGowan says it would be too difficult to challenge it due to the cost.
One of murals shows Samia, a Palestinian woman, holding her late niece Masa who is wrapped in a Palestinian flag. Samia had another niece called Lia who was also killed.
“It’s beyond devastating that no one will ever get to know Masa or Lina or any of the thousands upon thousands of children, and adults, who have been murdered,” Blake wrote.
“I’m very grateful to Bernard for allowing me to paint this and for keeping it up so long.”
McGowan didn’t expect “any of us in Ireland” to have a problem with the imagery, as it is intended to promote peace.
We more or less understand the situation as we understand the fight [Palestinians are] going through.
He said that nothing political was meant by the murals, but he didn’t understand that some people may not take it that way.
“Some people get insulted by that because they have their own views.
“We have children building the blocks of peace…that’s what we’re trying to get across. We want peace to happen. We’re not saying Israelis are right or Hamas is right.”
Peadar Browns pub on Clanbrassil Street also recently removed a mural dedicated to the Palestinian people on orders from the council, and last year Shaku Maku, a Middle Eastern restaurant in Rathmines, was subject to the same orders.
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Aldi is showing the way forward. Lidl as well.
Was in Dunnes in Swords this morning! The special offers are few and far between! Prices are definitely creeping up again! And to top it all off, there’s hardly anyone working in it! Can’t wait for the new Lidl store to open!
It’s not surprising, a couple of years ago I was getting a decent weekly shop for €30-€40 now I am paying more like €60 a week. I like to shop around to ensure that Irish businesses get my money but I am beginning to think I should just stick with Lidl or Aldi.
Lisa, if you want to help the economy you should shop for the best deal for you and your family. Ths will force reailers to try and attract your business by reducing prices and maintaining or improving quality.
Lower prices will enable consumers to spread their into other sectors.
Ben while that is true, Tesco is known for forcing farmers to sell their produce at a crazy low price.
While one could suggest why don’t they sell to the highest bidder. Tesco et al dictate price and if the farmer doesn’t sell at the price they have no one else to buy it.
How can a farmer make a profit on the likes of lettuce when it’s being sold for 25cent.
JFK said that Farming was the only industry where people have to buy supplies at consumer prices and sell the finished goods at wholesale prices.
Iceland food store is brilliantly fair cheap on everything.. Lidl is very reasonable too.. When it comes to loyalty I’m sorry but I can only afford the cheapest with all these damn taxes
A few years ago it was almost shameful to be shopping in lidldi now it’s cool to do so!
In Holland, you see Doctor’s stepping out of Lidl in to their Mercs. People off all classes shop there. Here there was the new money snobbery, there they just viewed it as getting food at a reasonable price. A smart thing to do. There is an awful lot of people here who regret the keeping up appearances bolloxology now.
I would say thought that people should try to buy Irish if at all possible, the profits stay here, and they come back to you in wages, services jobs etc. A Euro spent on local produce is worth 2 to the economy.
Excellent point Fagan. I lived in Aus for a year and they really pushed buying Aussie goods.
We should try do the same.
Eddie Hobbs has us all believing everything Irish is a rip off. Having been to Aus and Finland among other countries I can honestly say Ireland Is not a rip off.
It will never be cool.
Agreed a few years ago there were so many people going around as though their $h1t did not stink and would not be seen near a lidl or aldi store, now times are different and reality bites, these large stores do offer good value but not on everything, people should learn to mix n match between local stores and the big multiples and spread their spend around, here in mainland europe small food retailers work alongside larger multiples and offer good value service & quality produce its a win win in relation to the customer, back to basics is the way forward
Try to shop local as much as I can, hate to see so much money leaving the country especially making the German economy stronger and ours getting weaker by the day, just my point of view
I agree. I try and shop in Dunnes as much as possible and I like the fact Dunnes tell you how many Irish goods you buy on their receipt.
where I live there is a Lidl, Supervalu, Tesco, Dunnes, Iceland & Aldi prob inside a square mile. Out of all of them it is Aldi for me. One of the reasons I shop in Aldi is the amount of Irish food, all most all their meat is from quality assured Irish farms, the crisp isle is mostly all Snackrite, which is made by Largo food (Tayto). loads of bread there is Irish, and actually nice unlike Lidl bread (not taking about their bakery) Heaps of Taste awards, and Blas na Eireann awards. really good quality Irish foods at great prices, specially selected sausages taste like superquinn ones. The say they try to stock as much Irish fruit n veg as they can, milk cheese yogurt eggs all Irish the mark all their Irish products with the tri-colour so its very easy to do a completely Irish shop. (I don’t work for Aldi :) )
The decline is due to the increase in cost.
Guys and girls. Prices are going to rise a lot more .
Oil is up. Our food is grown in petro chemicals ,transported in trucks and wrapped in plastics .
On top of that there is increased demand for food worldwide.
Tesco et al will not be able to hide price increases for too long and I have to agree with the above comments. I think the special offers are getting scarce. Especially for actual items you would use.
Not to sound like a broken record here but banks and hedgefunds have a huge part to blame in rising food prices. Morally and ethically wrong to be speculating on food prices but hey whats new.
It’s very morally wrong.
I work in a small fruit and veg shop…probably the only one around for miles because most have closed their doors, each morning we’re at the market, buying the freshest produce so customers are guaranteed high quality food, when in season, we get loads of produce from local growers. The big supermarkets have a few items cheaper, but on the whole, I’d say we’re cheaper in the long run. And everything is totally fresh, unlike supermarket stuff which is in cold storage for weeks. Support your locality, best for everyone.
My husband was made redundant from a wonderful supplier in fruit markets dublin, it was so sad to see a family business close after 60 odd years:-( i hope your fruit and veg shop sees the tough times through! :-)
One would not wonder why people are staying away they are going the same way as the publicans for years when trade fell back they increased their prices to make up for the loss of trade , now I have noticed the supermarkets are increasing prices, a rise of about 16 percent on a lot of items over the last 6 months, I for one leave it on the shelf and when it does not sell it is reduced for a few days to try and get rid of old stock, then is the time to buy, they should know that the customers are on a tight budget this day and age. as we are been robbed left right and centre by the government of the day.
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