THE PIANO AT Dublin’s Pearse station has been fully repaired and is back in action after being vandalised last month.

The much-loved instrument fell silent after vandals caused extensive damage to its mechanism in late November.

Piano tuner John Murphy had to order parts from the UK and spent several days carefully restoring the piano to its former glory. It is now ready to be played once again by commuters passing through the busy city centre station.

A spokesperson for Irish Rail told TheJournal.ie that the “mindless vandalism” sparked a huge outpouring of appreciation for the colourful instrument.

“There’s a lot of love for the pianos all over the country. People were really upset that this had happened, and it was mindless vandalism, particularly at this time of year where the pianos are really busy,” Jane Cregan said.

Irish Rail works in partnership with Focus Ireland to raise funds for homeless services through choirs at train stations. The vandalism left one of Ireland’s busiest train stations without a piano in the run up to Christmas

The upright piano became Ireland’s first permanent train station instrument when it was installed in September 2017.

There are now also pianos in Dublin’s Connolly and Heuston stations as well as in Limerick, Waterford and Cork. The November incident was the first time any of the pianos were vandalised.

Irish Rail appealed to the public not to damage the pianos due to the considerable cost of getting them fixed.

“These pianos bring great joy to people who play them and people who are waiting in stations, so please don’t vandalise them,” Cregan said.