15 May, 2003

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Dún Laoghaire SF pickets unveiling of fountain to Famine Queen

Dún Laoghaire Sinn Féin on Tuesday picketed the unveiling of the new public space at the entrance to the town's harbour that includes a fountain dedicated to Britain's Queen Victoria. The picket was organised in opposition to the resurrection of the Victoria monument as part of the redevelopment of the harbour area. Speaking at the picket, Sinn Féin's Paul O'Connor said:

"Sinn Féin welcomes the development of public and open spaces for the people of Dún Laoghaire. However, we feel that the resurrection of a monument to Britain's Queen Victoria as part of that development is inappropriate, unnecessary and offensive. The Harbour Company and the County Council have not taken into account the fact that people in Dún Laoghaire and beyond are genuinely appalled that a monument that commemorates and celebrates the British monarch who reigned in this country during the time of the Famine, when over a million Irish people starved to death, has been rebuilt in the town. That the monument occupies such a prominent place in the town only adds insult to injury.

"This picket marks the start of a campaign by Dún Laoghaire Sinn Féin to have the British crown and the plaques of Queen Victoria removed from the monument and for the fountain to be rededicated to some more deserving and relevant person or group of persons.

"This is not about ignoring our past. It is about recognising that we are supposed to be an independent republic and that our local authorities should reflect that fact. Today's unveiling represents a new low for Dún Laoghaire Rathdown County Council and for the councillors from Fine Gael, Fianna Fáil and Labour who supported it."

O'Connor dismissed claims by Donal Marren, Chairperson of Dún Laoghaire Rathdown County Council that the ground and open space surrounding the monument was being dedicated to the workers who built the harbour. He said: "In death as in life Queen Victoria once again towers over the ordinary workers. Where else in the world would you get a country that gained its independence through conflict and struggle erecting monuments to their former colonial masters?"

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