NEXT WEEK, THE National Wax Museum will unveil a new Sinéad O’Connor wax figure.

The new figure will be unveiled to the public on Thursday 23 July, almost three years on from her death on 26 July 2023 at the age of 56.

In a statement today, the National Wax Museum Plus acknowledged that it was “clear” that the previous Sinéad O’Connor figure launched in 2024 “did not meet the museum’s standards”.

The original wax figure was unveiled ahead of O’Connor’s first anniversary but was removed just a day later after being met with mostly negative reaction.

A wax sculpture of Sinéad O'Connor has been unveiled at the National Wax Museum in Dublin today pic.twitter.com/SP2EtkMWm4

— TheJournal.ie (@thejournal_ie) July 25, 2024

O’Connor’s family were also critical of the wax work, with her brother John O’Connor telling RTÉ’s Liveline at the time that the figure looked like something between “a mannequin and something out of the Thunderbirds”.

“I thought it was hideous,” he said, adding that a statue of the singer in Dublin city would be a more appropriate tribute. 

Speaking at the time, the director of the National Wax Museum Paddy Dunning acknowledged that the sculpture had not gone through the normal approval process and apologised for upsetting people, particularly the O’Connor family, by unveiling the sculpture. 

“We’ll go again and we’ll remodel and we have to do better,” Dunning told Liveline in 2024 after the wax work was removed.

The remodel will be launched on Thursday and the National Wax Museum said the new figure has been created “following a process of careful consideration, research and craftsmanship”.

A spokesperson added that it has been “carefully made to capture Sinead’s unmistakable presence and honour her remarkable contribution to music, culture and Irish identity”.

Commenting on the new wax work, Dunning said: “Sinéad was a friend of mine, and it was very important to me that we included her in the museum in a way that felt right.

“I knew her from the Dublin music scene when she was rehearsing in Temple Bar at the Temple Lane Rehearsal Studios, and that connection grew over the years.

“As someone who knew her well, I felt it was important that this figure be created with real care, consideration and respect.”

The unveiling will take place at the museum on Westmoreland Street in Dublin city centre.

Special guests and invited members of the media will be among the first to see the figure before it goes on permanent public display later that morning.

Following the official unveiling, the figure will then become part of the museum’s Hall of Fame, joining a collection of Irish and international icons who have shaped music, entertainment and history.