For years her statue has proudly stood in Dublin, an embodiment of Irish spirit and culture. But now Molly Malone stewards must be assigned, after complaints that spirit has been tasted by people who grab the famous bronze sculpture.
The introduction of a security presence will be tested a week in May after the tradition of touching the breasts of the image, a habit said that he brought happiness, affected the similarity of the local folk hero.
The city council has promised to restore discoloration around the affected area, while he also moved to discourage the local population and tourists to use the bronze.
“The Dublin city council has received complaints about members of the public, in particular tourists who have touched the statue of Molly Malone,” said a spokesperson.
'Plans to re -re -regain parts of the statue are in control and will take place in May, and this process has been repeated over the years due to repeated rubbing of the figure.
“The Dublin city council does not want someone to touch a work of art, either indoors or outdoors to prevent damage and expensive repairs.”
The statue, by the late Irish sculptor Jeanne Rynhart, was unveiled in 1988 on Grafton Street before the construction of a tram line led to a move to Suffolk Street, just over half a mile distance, in 2014.
The Council has the possibility to relocate it again have not taken into account again and has also disputed the possibility of making the bronze less accessible by installing a larger plinth or handrails.
The city council of Dublin will use stewards to give people a statue of Irish folklore figure Molly Malone, seen here, in the conviction that it will bring happiness
Touching the breasts of the statue, a habit of bringing happiness, has affected the image
The concern about the practice has been raised by Tilly Cripwell, above, a student who buses near the statue. She said that plans to introduce stewards were 'short -sighted and fairly short term'
But those considerations must be weighed against the costs and the need to retain the image as a safe tourist attraction, the council said.
“The low plinth height and space around the statue can easily come together and the statue of Molly Malone is a characteristic of tours given by guides,” the spokesperson added.
'Moving the statue or raising the plinth are expensive options and placing railing around this work can increase the risk. However, all options are currently assessed by Dublin City Council for this statue.
“A pilot week of stewardship will take place in May to start training those who deal with the statue and ask that they do not touch the statue or step on the plinth, and to discuss the reasons not to do this.”
The decision to use stewards follows a campaign that was launched last year by Tilly Cripwell, a student who was an end to the 'misogynistic tradition' to touch it.
But although she welcomed plans to restore the image, she burned the idea of ​​using stewards 'short sighted and fairly short term', and urged that the addition of an increased plinth would be preferred.
“Many people call around her, kiss her on the cheek, kiss her breasts, it's all inappropriate,” Cripwell told The Telegraph last year. “It reduces her to this spot and does not give her the status of a national treasure.”
Molly Malone, the subject of a famous national anthem about the daughter of a fishmonger who sells cockles and mussels from a wheelbarrow, has been hit in the structure of Irish folklore.
The song describes how 'her ghost wheels her wheelbarrow / through streets wide and narrow' after she died of fever. But now it is the need to balance safety with sightseeing who is spooky officials.
For Catherine Scuffil, the historian of Dublin City Council in Residence, respect for the memory of a woman who, researchers, is increasingly being a real person from the Liberties area of ​​the city, is of the utmost importance.
“Poor Molly doesn't deserve it,” she said about the exaggerated tactile approach to visitors. 'Think for a moment what she represents us. She is an image of our city. She represents the people of our city, but more importantly, she represents the women of our city. So maybe we shouldn't treat her the way we are at the moment. '
“Molly means a lot to many people,” Scuffil, a family member of the sculptor of the statue, told RTE. 'We always use Molly Malone as our national anthem, like our slogan, as our story. So she represents all those things.
“A woman, independent resources, her own profession, working in the city, you know, we have to respect her more.”
