Report on future of Crimean cannons due before councillors

A report on what should be done with two Crimean War cannons ‘temporarily’ relocated to front of City Hall during the overhaul of Eyre Square a decade ago will be presented to councillors shortly.

Amid a celebratory fireworks display, the two cannons weighing two tonnes a piece were gifted to the town commissioners on August 3, 1857 after they were confiscated from Russian troops.

Originally placed either side of the entrance to the Railway Hotel – formerly the Great Southern and now Meyrick Hotel – the guns were removed to a barracks in Athlone in 1866 in case they were used against the British. They were returned to the top of the park in Eyre Square two years later, where they remained until their 2004 transfer.

Several councillors have lamented their isolation on College Road, far removed from the hordes of visitors and children, who had long used the artillery as an impromptu play arena.

A report has been promised for at least a year on the future of the artillery. It is now expected to be sent to councillors exploring the three options on the table.

“We can either do nothing and leave them where they are, we can move them to the Spanish Parade or move them back to Eyre Square. There are issues in relation to all three,” said a spokesman for City Hall.

“They would need to be looked at anyway in terms of conservation. We can’t keep throwing paint on them. They’re very weather-beaten, they’re flaking, so a certain amount of work would need to be done whatever location is decided.

“They’re incredibly heavy, they’ve sunk into the grass outside City Hall. If moved beside the river, it’s very salty, so that will have to be investigated.”

Fine Gael councillor Frank Fahey believes they should be returned to Eyre Square while Labour’s Niall McNelis has suggested a more suitable home would be the Spanish Arch.

Both have publicly welcomed the monument’s relocation in the past year.

However, a Council spokesman said this was “jumping the gun a bit”.

“No decision has been made and I’m not sure if there will be a recommendation in the report that is being prepared for councillors for their information”.

A replica of the cannon’s former neighbour, the Pádraic Ó Conaire statue, has been commissioned following lobbying by a number of councillors so that the famous Irish language writer and journalist can return to his spiritual home. The original has been housed in the Galway City Museum for years due to vandalism.