The owner of an Ennis building displaying a controversial mural has applied for planning permission to retain the artwork.
Completed just last October, a warning was issued by Clare County Council in December that the piece could be removed as it was erected without planning permission.
The mural located on the rear gable wall and side wall of Cornucopia in the Upper Market Street Car Park is the work of local artist Rachel MacManus and was commissioned by rfe4the People of Clare Against Genocide and the Clare Palestine Solidarity Campaign.
Depicted in the mural are four children holding hands and smiling with scenes of devastation in Gaza behind them.
Although erected with the consent of the building owner Sinead Pyne, no planning permission was officially sought at the time and in December, the local authority issued a warning notice following complaints it had received about an “unauthorised mural development”.
The planning application submitted on February 6th is for the retention of the mural, with the applicant stating the area is “within an architectural conservation area”.
Clare County Council has until April 2nd to make a decision on the application while submissions can be made up until March 12th.
A petition called ‘Prevent Removal of the Mural Depicting Palestinian Resilience in Ennis’ launched on December 6th has garnered 1,429 signatures to date.
