Anger as council plans to remove Magdalene Laundry sculpture

A city council has insisted it intends to remove a sculpture erected just last year to women who suffered at a Magdalene laundry.

The sculpture was erected on International Women's Day in March last year close to the former Magdalene Laundry in Galway city centre.

But now, it is to be removed to facilitate the construction of a new bus lane, with Galway City Council stating they will erect the sculpture elsewhere.

Councillor Padraig Conneely, who unveiled the memorial last year when he was Mayor of Galway, said the Magdalene Laundry sculpture should not be moved until a suitable site is located.

"Galway City Council has an appalling record when it comes to moving sculptures around. The Padraic O'Conaire statue was taken from Eyre Square and lay idle for years before being housed in the city museum.

"And an Edward Delaney sculpture which was removed from close to the Quincentennary Bridge ended up being dumped after it lay idle for an age at a council depot.

"Someone apparently thought it was scrap metal and threw it out," added the Fine Gael councillor.

The Magdalene sculpture is located on the corner of Forster St and Bothar Breandan O Eithir, close to the former Magdalene Laundry, but that corner will have to be widened to facilitate a new bus lane on Bathar Breandan O Eithir.

"It has only been there for over a year and it is a poignant tribute to the many women who suffered in the Magdalene. We should be showing it more respect that shoving it off somewhere else.

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