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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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Biggest issue for young men is breakdown of the family. Dad’s not in the house and not in lads lives causes massive issues from what I have experienced.
@Seosamh Ohuaine: and also modern society is not accommodating of male instinctive nature that has developed in a very different world and has a validity.
@Seosamh Ohuaine: Yes. But nowadays, because of the con trick played on women by western governments, neither is Ma in the house.
Children are being left to bring themselves up. Lord of the Flies.
What did we expect ?
People are taught to be victims in today’s world, it’s not just a male or female issue. Young people have been incessantly coddled from an early age, meaning that now they have no enthusiasm or drive to succeed. The current generation of young people has grown up in a time of relative prosperity, with easy access to technology, education, and, for the most part, safety and security. They haven’t had to experience real hardship or the kind of economic struggle that previous generations had to deal with, so they don’t fully understand the fragility of the systems that provide those comforts. This sense of having “never had it so good” leads to a kind of complacency, where they don’t see the need for honour or sacrifices. Both sexes think the world is screwing them over when life is great.
@William Jennings: Best comment yet.
@William Jennings: the current generation are rarely given No for a answer. So when a real No is given to them, they can’t handle it.
@William Jennings: nail on the head.
@P. V. Aglue: Bang on. The word “no” has disappeared from the mouth of parents and teachers when it comes to dealing with children. I’ve noticed now that young people (especially teenagers) are more disobedient, give more attitude and are less likely to follow instructions when it comes to interactions with authority figures. I’ll give you an example that happened with me a few weeks ago. My youngest son had one of his friends over to our house. It’s customary that they are welcome to join us for dinner if they want also. After we sat down at the table and the dinner was served (a beautiful beef shin with mash and roast carrots that I spent hours cooking), the friend said he wanted chicken tenders. I told him “No, we have none in the house” and he actually gave me backchat and didn’t eat!
The trick is to make men feel guilty for being MEN, it make us easier to control.
@087 bed: lol
@087 bed: Naw, poor diddums.
@Jacintha Dumbrell: what a childish response.
@Jacintha Dumbrell: I’m guessing that’s as deep as it gets with you.
What was ever wrong with just being a man’s man? Is a comment like that toxic?
@Sea Spirit: nothing wrong with it at all. In fact we legalised that sort of thing in the 90s and they can even get married these days.
@George Bowling: Hahaha, very good.
If men stopped hurting women, stopped being the reason women need protecting and held each other accountable, we’d be a lot further on.
@Jack Hayes: Are you a man?
@Jack Hayes: Do you hurt women jack.
@Jack Hayes: There’s plenty of nasty women who psychologically destroy their male partners. I would like to see hard statistics. Most likely severely under-reported.
@Deano74: Jack does seem to have a complex!
@Jack Hayes:
How do we hold each other accountable.
Unless we actually witness something there is nothing we can do. Then it’s all down to the law and judiciary to deal with it. Even if someone witnessed something, the offender is still going to get legal representation and is innocent until proven guilty.
@Pól Pot: i agreer, thats cos of double standards
@Jack Hayes: are men not the number one protector of women ?
@ToolsDown: From what? Men
@Sean Hayes: obviously! But far more good men than bad.
@Jack Hayes: I don’t know one man who thinks it’s ok to be violent towards woman. You’d should change the company you keep.
@Jack Hayes: what an outrageous comment to tar all men with that distorted brush. The vast vast majority of men would never hurt women and the minority of men that women are afraid of are not real men. You sir should be ashamed of yourself for that vulgar virtue signalling beta male rubbish.
I have the popcorn out waiting for the feminist backlash. Standby for the Nonsense !
@James Kelly: you must be at the end of that bucket of popcorn by now since no backlash feminist or otherwise lol
@James Kelly: Making things that need discussion a no go area is hindering development.
I have no idea what his point is or where he’s going with it. Historical definitions ignore how language evolves, & he left out the most unsettling part: Not all men are perverts, this is also driven by social currency & entertainment. Some are lonely, some just want to live quietly and let it happen around them. If we want equality to exist we need to educate those who will inherit power. Most don’t realise the system is already weighted in their favour. Teaching critical thinking and media literacy early gives kids tools to decode bias, intent, & manipulation.My 13-year-old, in an all-boys school (due to availability), is learning about gender equality. He came home shocked—most of his class don’t believe women deserve equal pay or leadership.The teacher disnt interject.My son is 1 in 28
@miss lojo:
Why was he shocked.
@Thomas O’Brien: because he is 13 and thought everyone wants everyone else to be treated equally and with respect. He was shocked, and he was disappointed that his peers had a negative view of women and girls or “their mum” as he put it. The class was 45 mins long and had questions where the boys had to move to the side of the room to agree and disagree it was all on gender equality. He was in the minority every time. That is what shocked him. The teacher asked the question, but there was no discussion about the topic that day or any day following. Those same boys will be deciding on my rights when I’m an old lady, and that scares me.
Men are from Mars and Women are from Venus. They think and act differently. You can’t make a silk purse out of a sows ear. It’s possible that men who trans secretly want to dominate and be better than women which causes disdain from both sexes
There’s no such thing as toxic masculinity.
@Pelagius Asturias: Both men and women have to dodge toxic people.
From a position of privilege, equality feels like oppression.
That’s what’s going on here.
“The pendulum has swung too far”, OK boomer!
@Soundy Sound: Do all drivers get butt hurt when we talk about “dangerous driving” or do they realise that if they don’t drive dangerously, they are not the subject of the discussion?
Same here, masculinity is fine, toxic masculinity is not.
@Soundy Sound: I don’t think most commenters will disagree with “toxic masculinity” is bad.
The issue is, what’s today covered under the term.
Everything some woman or woman organisations don’t like is is now “toxic masculinity”.
I don’t think anyone will deny that woman where disadvantaged or even oppressed in the past.
The issue today is (to me), that now women are always the victim, no matter what the issue is and “some” like to moan about it.
What’s wrong with being a person?
Developing social supports for men….now there’s a novel idea. The indiscriminatly beating them with a stick approach isn’t really working.
Many women today bemoan the fact that in their words, there are no real or good men, to date, enter into a relationship with or marry, etc.
But they say things about men in general using terms like, toxic masculinity, predatory behaviour, sexual harassment, physical abusers, psychological abuser, r*pists,and murders, without a first, nevermind second thought..
Now there are men unfortunately that those labels apply to, but dismissively applying them as catch all descriptors to all men, as to imply that they are collectively any of the above in waiting, and when men object to being tarred with the same brush, the same women say things like, diddums upset?
Or aren’t you man enough to take it? Or you must not be a real man if that bothers you…
This only makes many men less interested in engaging with women in general, if for no other reason than they don’t want to be accused of something, when the prevailing school of thought is to blindly accept the womans version of events, regardless of how many holes and contradictions, and for the man to be deemed guilty until proven innocent and maybe even guilty after being proven innocent by society as a whole.
The question that might reasonably be asked is, why have women self sabotaged their relationships with men by pushing or at the very least not calling halt to the onslaught of anti male rhetoric, and the emasculation of men?
Well the truth is that it hasn’t been heterosexual women in the driving seat of this programme of the demonisation and emasculation of men in general, it has been driven by ultra extreme feminist lesbians, that have nothing to lose and could legitimately be termed as toxic feminists, this isn’t to say that all lesbians are toxic feminists, any more than all men aren’t toxic misogynists, but those two minority extremes have been allowed to shape the current state of affairs to the detriment of everyone, because women didn’t say enough was enough, once their reasonable demands for equality were met.
Ultra feminism became a means for inflicting punitive damage against men in general, for their only supposed crime of being men and being unfairly held collectively responsible..
@Dvsespaña: Don’t worry, you’ll get your hole one day.
Writing on this theme presented a great opportunity to talk about a tricky and relevant issue in a mature and balanced way, instead it reads as a drawn out version of “FEMINISM HAS GONE TOO FAR!” The missed opportunities and false equivalents are many and I sincerely hope someone writes a sensible article in response. Also, grow up.
@Rachel Mountney:
Why don’t you take the opportunity to talk about it then. Grow up yourself.
@Rachel Mountney: nice subjective perspective there. Do you claim to know what it’s like being a man in this modern western society. And the absolute irony of a female asking men to “grow up”….welcome to now….sexism is feminism.
At least President Trump is helping it ok to be male again
@Rian O’Sullivan: Yes nothing like a convicted offender of women being president, best friends with Jeffrey Epstein and welcoming the Tate brothers and Conor McGregor with open arms. Whilst having people like Hegseth who violently assaulted his wife repeatedly in his administration. That’s definitely the example men should follow. Jesus Wept!
Yeah showing adolescence in schools could be the solution like just saying no to drugs its not tates or mcgregors that are the issue most young people I speak to think there idiots maybe the changing breakdown of the family unit not having a father in their lives is the problem and drug use mcgregor is the bogeyman at the moment in the msmedia more because his asylum comments just saying
If someone tries to say ‘All masculine men are bad” is that toxic feminity, or just stupidity?
@Robert Duggan: Don’t know cos no one ever said it
How did we live our lifes back just 15 years ago. ?
All these new buzzwords & strap lines that all the Lefty’s love spreading j
I just dislike how he opens the article with a sentence that is a little bit of a lie by omission. Yes Nancy Astor was the first female MP to enter Westminster but Countess Markievicz was the first elected in 1918 but didn’t take her seat.
Being masculine is not toxic.
Beta males run the world and nerd culture has taken over.
Grow a set and carry on.
Very good piece. Being male is something to be proud of.
What comes to mind is RTE’s miriam o call constantly interviewing “very strong women” but never seems to have “very strong men” on the programme. The implication being that men are just… UNstrong, weak, pointless.
As Joe Duffy says, ‘A Jeysys’.
@99: as Joe Duffy says, ad infinitum “so to speak”. 80% of the time he uses it, it makes no sense, so to speak. Today he got it in about 20 times, so to speak. Really annoying, isn’t it.
Thank God I am the other side of 50 and will be dust by the time all of these soft people have responsibility. In the last 100 years man and boys stood up for their countries for freedom. Now they just want to have a playstation and cry if someone says boo to them . Shane on you all for making them this soft.
Dr Luke makes some good points but what everyone is ignoring is the corruptions of the Justice system to convict innocent men, possibly because people aren’t aware of it and the MSM ( including the Journal) deliberately ignore it. If young men were made aware of the incremental erosion of the presumption of innocence, with the objective of convicting the innocent, and the impediments being put in the way of men trying to prove their innocence there would be an uprising. The fact that the presumption of innocence has been reversed without any discussion shows the contempt that exists for men’s human rights yeell-being.
@Nodon: Twaddle.
Seems a tad smug and doesn’t address the headline of the article. So what is the solution when countless young men are reduced to being useless ‘drones’ with no satisfying purpose, no aim other than to emulate their heroes (those that seem to reflect them best) and there is no job that pays them enough to keep them interested and most importantly that integrates them satisfactorily with themselves, girls, women and society generally? Crime, misogyny, depression, social breakdown, violence against women and others and suicide all seem to be the nett effect if not addressed early in adolescence.
Don’t forget every boy is some womans son or brother.
A pretty good article, really. I like how he described the evolution of the term “toxic masculinity” and its getting co-opted by feminists to become a blunt weapon to use on men generally.
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