This article is from page 13 of the 2012-03-13 edition of The Clare People. OCR mistakes are to be expected so download the original SWF or the rendered page 13 JPG
A POPULAR new stone sculpture in Ennis will aid tourism in the town, according to the Mayor of Ennis.
Cllr Michael Guilfoyle (Ind) said last week that the Market Day, installed in the market roundabout last week, has already generated huge interest on social networking sites such as Facebook.
Speaking at the March meeting of Ennis Town Council, Cllr Guilfoyle said, “We need all the attractions we can get in this town at the moment”.
Cllr Johnny Flynn (FG) described the piece as a “fantastic piece of sculpture”.
He added, “The amount of people getting their photos taken is amazing. It’s going to become a major tourist attraction”.
Made from granite, the near 20 tonne work depicts the two farmers discussing the purchase of a cow. The sculpture was installed on the market roundabout earlier this month as a replacement for the Icarus statue, which has been re-located to the Rocky Road roundabout.
The piece was designed and built by local sculptor Barry Wrafter. Market Day was commissioned by the Ennis Sculpture Initiative who also covered the cost of transporting the sculpture’s pieces to Ennis.
The Ennis Sculpture Initiative has installed numerous sculptures along the riverside in Ennis, as well as creating street furniture in the town centre. The sculpture trail takes many forms depicting cultural, historical and sporting events as well as more
abstract pieces.
In recent years, the initiative has spent close to one million euros on sculptures in and around Ennis in recent years.
Noel Crowley, Chairman of Ennis Tidy Towns, said there has been a fantastic response to the sculpture.
He also paid tribute to the efforts of the Sculpture initiative in ensuring the project was completed. “We commissioned it and paid for the transport.
“The Council paid for the re-enforcement of the roundabout so it could be installed there”.