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.

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Emmalene Blake / ESTR (@emmaleneblake)

“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.