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Irish Daily Mirror
3 days ago
- General
- Irish Daily Mirror
'Sexualised' Molly Malone statue causing 'upset' amid new plans to stop groping
Council chiefs have given up posting stewards at the Molly Malone statue to stop tourists from molesting it and are now scrambling to find a more permanent solution, The Irish Mirror can reveal. Dublin City Council believes the practise is "ingrained" into sightseers and confirmed it is exploring the idea of installing flower beds around the base as a possible fix. Rubbing the famous fishmonger's breasts for luck is believed to have been thought up by a cheeky tour guide in 2012. Council bosses acknowledged that when the marshals were in place, people would cooperate, but once they were gone, the Suffolk Street effigy would be groped again. The act has led to Molly Malone's chest area becoming discoloured from being rubbed by countless tourists on a daily basis - but we can also reveal that preparations are underway to have it restored. Tourists often rub Molly Malone's cleavage, believing that it brings good luck (Image: Getty Images) In April, it was announced that stewards would patrol around the famous statue for a week on a pilot basis from the start of May. As part of the pilot programme, the wardens stood adjacent to the statue, located outside St Andrew's Church, and intervened if any tourists went to feel her bust. When the initiative was announced, Dublin City Council Arts Officer Ray Yeates also said he had concerns about the safety of people climbing onto the plinth to touch the statue. The Irish Mirror contacted Dublin City Council to ask what the outcome of the pilot was and if it had any plans to appoint stewards on a permanent basis. In response, a spokesperson said: "The Stewards were in situ for one week in May. "When approached not to touch the statue, people were generally cooperative, but without stewards the behaviour returns and is ingrained apparently as part of your visit to Dublin. "Tour guides also cooperated very well by asking their groups not to touch the statue. "It is difficult to change this behaviour, so we are exploring other avenues of protection for the sculpture, including installing flower beds around the base." The council added: "Of immediate importance is the restoration of the sculpture, which was reviewed by a conservator recently. "The patination is damaged, and we are currently organising the restoration of it." It comes as emails sent to Mr Yeates and the council, which were released to the Irish Mirror following a Freedom of Information Request, show Dubliners were divided about the practise. One email sent to Mr Yeates on the day it was announced that stewards would be appointed to guard the statue read: "I thought it would be useful if you heard counter arguments to the ones that have led to your very humorous decision to protect the dignity of our brass attractions around the city. "Making decisions like this based on extreme views are never a good idea. "We are being pulled to the extremes everywhere in the world, and we need to centre again. Maybe the sculptor wanted a more serious piece of work but that's not how it was perceived and we are where we are." The emailer added: "Rubbing the statue is a silly, slightly risqué piece of nothingness. I can't say I have ever been bothered to engage but I see it for what it is. "Please spend your money on promoting the arts and maybe if you don't have need for the budget give it to one of the departments that deal with Garda forums or general matters of urban decay." Another email sent to Mr Yeates from a young woman said seeing the statue being "sexualised" causes her "extreme upset". One person emailed Dublin City Council to say: "Rubbing the statue is a silly, slightly risqué piece of nothingness" (Image: Getty Images) The email, which was sent before the stewards initiative was announced, read: "Is there a way we can darken the areas of the Molly Malone statue, where the dark colour has been worn off from people touching her and taking photos, specially the breast area? "I'm a young girl, I walk past it everyday on my way to school, and seeing an admirable woman be sexualised and degraded causes me extreme upset." The email also said she worries about the impact the act will have on young girls and believes it represents Dublin in a "poor light". She added: "I'd like to think Dublin is a place where women can feel safe and celebrated, rather than objectified and dehumanised." While another said the practise was a "really awful depiction of how the city values its female historical figures" and asked if the council had plans to deal with it. The monument of Molly Malone was created by Jeanne Rynhart. It was initially located near the bottom of Grafton Street, but was moved to Suffolk Street in 2014. Controversy has been growing about the practise of rubbing the statue's breasts for a while. It led to the 'Leave Molly mAlone' campaign earlier this year, which was spearheaded by singer-songwriter Tilly Cripwell and urged the public to stop molesting the statue. Subscribe to our newsletter for the latest news from the Irish Mirror direct to your inbox: Sign up here. The Irish Mirror's Crime Writers Michael O'Toole and Paul Healy are writing a new weekly newsletter called Crime Ireland. Click here to sign up and get it delivered to your inbox every week
ITV News
3 days ago
- Politics
- ITV News
Strict behaviour policy blamed for 'exodus of 500 pupils' from Ark Alexandra Academy in Hastings
A Sussex school's strict behaviour policy – which includes a total ban on mobile phones and detention targets for staff – is leading to 'exodus of pupils' and 'discriminating against special needs children', parents and politicians have claimed. An ITV News Meridian investigation has discovered that 472 children have left Ark Alexandra Academy in Hastings over the past three school years before the scheduled end of their secondary education. The data, obtained via a Freedom of Information Request, shows that 28% of the children leaving the school prematurely were recorded as having Special Educational Needs or Disabilities (SEND). The Ark Schools Trust told us they have 'high aspirations for students' and 'work hard to support those with additional education needs'. Labour MP Helena Dollimore, who has raised her concerns about the school in Parliament, described the numbers leaving as an 'exodus' and urged Ark to 'acknowledge the scale of the problem' and 'work with the community rather than against it'. The Hastings & Rye MP told ITV News Meridian: 'Everybody agrees we need strict discipline in our schools but the way this is being implemented is causing a lot of issues and ultimately leading to children falling out of the education system.' Laura Wallis removed her son from the school less than a fortnight after he started Year 7 in September 2024. She claims he was discriminated against because of his ADHD and autism – and was effectively forced to leave. 'Within two weeks of being there he'd racked up nearly four hours worth of detentions. He wasn't walking close enough to the corridor wall – that was a detention. Spatial awareness is one of the things he really struggles with. 'There was no support for both his physical needs and his special educational needs. Their no-nonsense policy pushes children out of the education system.' The figures show that 39% of the children removed from Ark Alexandra are initially home schooled, rather than transferred directly to another school. Laura Wallis's son lost 120 days of classroom education before being accepted into another school, where she says he is 'thriving'. Staff whistleblowers have told ITV News Meridian that the school has a target that each staff member should issue 25 detentions per week. One teacher said while student behaviour had improved since the new policy was introduced, staff and student wellbeing has been impacted as a result. Helena Dollimore, Labour MP for Hastings & Rye, says she's extremely concerned Nigel Woodcock said he removed his daughter from the school in recent months, after almost three years at Ark Alexandra, because of the 'immense affect on her mental wellbeing". 'I wouldn't even explain it as being a prison. The kids aren't allowed to laugh in the hallways, they're not even allowed to sit with their friends at lunchtime except on a Friday", he added. Ark Schools declined our repeated requests for an interview. Instead the trust issued a statement, in which a spokesperson said: 'Ark Alexandra has improved rapidly over the past 18 months: suspensions have fallen significantly, attendance has improved, and students are making good progress in all year groups. 'We have high aspirations for our students and work hard to support those with additional education needs. Everything we do is focused on providing a great education for our children and seeing them thrive.' Justin Wynne, District Secretary at the National Education Union, does not support detention targets In response to the criticism of the detention targets, the Ark Schools spokesperson added: 'We monitor behaviour points to ensure the school's behaviour policy is implemented fairly and consistently. 'Staff are encouraged to award four times more rewards for positive behaviour – with the focus on catching students behaving well, rather than catching them out. This has helped us to create a culture of warmth and high standards.' Academies are state schools not controlled by the local authority but by an academy trust, funded directly by the Department for Education. The government is currently making a series of changes to the rules that academy trusts have to follow, to standardise curriculum, staff pay, conditions and recruitment.
Yahoo
17-05-2025
- Yahoo
One-woman campaign forces Labour council to repay a year's parking fines
A Labour council is to pay back a year's worth of parking fines after a woman launched a crusade against a 'misleading' sign. Manchester city council will also remove the sign that the social media campaigner, who uses the name Zoe Bread online, revealed was pointing drivers to the wrong meter, resulting in thousands of pounds in fines. Over a five-week campaign, the T-shirt maker and activist staked out the street on which she was fined, interviewed a traffic warden, and questioned Andy Burnham, the mayor of Greater Manchester, on a radio show. Now the local authority says it will refund a year's worth of fines. The campaign against the sign began in early April, when Zoe was given a £50 penalty for paying at the wrong machine in Collier Street, in Manchester city centre. Now, Bev Craig, the council leader, has told the campaigner she accepts the sign 'should be better', that it will be changed 'as soon as possible', and fines will be refunded. Zoe told her 1.3 million TikTok followers the sign directs drivers to a nearby pay and display machine for a private car park and she had 'parked for six minutes with the wrong ticket because of the arrow direction'. On April 8, in the first of a series of videos, she published a recording of one council official telling her motorists were often fined after parking on Collier Street but mistakenly paying for the private car park nearby. Then a security guard from a neighbouring car park told Zoe around 10 people a month are caught out by the sign. On April 11, she revealed the results of her Freedom of Information Request for how many fines were awarded on Collier Street before and after the private car park was created. In 2018, just 93 people were awarded a penalty, compared with 288 in 2023. Zoe then filmed herself speaking to a parking warden, who told her he agreed that the parking sign was misleading. 'We tell the council but it's up to the council to do it,' he said. The council insisted many people managed to buy the correct parking tickets for Collier Street. But after Zoe called into a local radio station to question Mr Burnham over the issue, Cllr Craig contacted her to resolve the issue. The council leader said on Saturday: 'Our signage at Collier Street is legally compliant but we agree it could be much clearer. We're going to address this as soon as possible with new signs, by relocating the meter, and by asking the owners of the nearby private car park to take down their signs which have contributed to confusion. 'As a goodwill gesture, we will also quash any pending or unpaid tickets relating to Collier Street – including Zoe's – and review our records of fines for the last 12 months in that location. We will refund anyone who said at the time that they believed they had paid for their parking.' Alan Good, a Liberal Democrat councillor who backed Zoe's campaign, said on Saturday: 'It should not have taken Zoe's hard work in raising the issue, formal complaints to the council from myself, in addition to social media pressure, for common sense to prevail.' Reflecting on her victory, Zoe told her followers: 'If I've learnt anything from this situation it's that the only way to get anything done is to be a completely annoying little pain in the ass. Oh, and that I was born to be a completely annoying little pain in the ass.' Broaden your horizons with award-winning British journalism. Try The Telegraph free for 1 month with unlimited access to our award-winning website, exclusive app, money-saving offers and more.
The Courier
02-05-2025
- The Courier
Dundee council to spend £236k on Balmuir Wood Travellers' site upgrade
Dundee City Council is set to spend almost £250,000 upgrading the city's only official Travellers' site at Balmuir Wood. Balmuir Wood sits beside the Murroes/Tealing junction on the A90 Dundee to Aberdeen dual carriageway. Although Angus Council owns the land, there is an agreement in place for Dundee City Council to run the facility. In January, The Courier reported how a Freedom of Information Request (FOI) revealed the site had been lying virtually empty for all but six months since 2019. The FOI also showed that Dundee City Council's repair and maintenance bill for Balmuir Wood in that five year period was £335,659. Now, councillors have approved a tender for further works to be carried out at the site. According to a council paper, the latest works comprise of full upgrading works to the amenity blocks. This will include replacement windows and external doors, kitchen and utility upgrade works, replacement shower-room fit-out, general electrical upgrade and redecoration throughout. The repairs are scheduled to run from April until June. The total value of the work is listed at £236,656 – which will be funded from the local authority's 2025-2030 capital plan. Information obtained by The Courier through a FOI showed that as of January, Balmuir Wood Travellers' site had been unoccupied for 17 months of the past 72. And just one pitch was in use for 44 months – 60% – of that period. The highest occupancy came during the winter period of 2021/22 when eight caravans pitched up between November and March. The Courier has previously reported on the rise in illicit Traveller camps in Dundee in recent years. Since the beginning of 2022, a total of 22 Traveller encampments have been reported to Dundee City Council. Of these, only one was reported in 2022, while six were reported in 2023 and 15 in 2024.
