As Galway orders removal of murals, Waterford celebrates them

While Galway City Council continues its policy of ordering businesses to tear down murals, another City Council is fully behind a project to paint them in a bid to revitalise derelict buildings with street art.

Galway City Council this week confirmed that it was pursuing the removal of a mural on the old Taaffe’s shop building on William Street which appeared almost overnight before the arrival of the judges for the 2020 City of Culture competition.

The building has been an eyesore in the heart of Galway’s busiest shopping district for decades after the shop closed and legal wrangling over planning regulations had stalled the new owners from ever reopening a business there before the recession hit.

The colourful abstract mural depicting a wave by street artist Finbar247 will now have to be removed after the planning department issued a warning letter to paint over the mural or the council would pursue enforcement proceedings.

The Council spent three years pursuing the owners of Claddagh Jewellers on Mainguard Street to take down their hugely popular ‘beanstalk’ mural depicting Claddagh rings and Galway Bay which regularly had hordes of tourists taking photos of it.

Meanwhile, 49 new works of arts have been created on drab buildings throughout Waterford City as part of the Waterford Walls Festival.

For more on this story, see this week’s Galway City Tribune