A HOMEOWNER in Dublin has lost her months-long battle against the council to have a mural which she had painted on the front of her home covered up.
Cathy McGovern, who lives in Sandycove, commissioned street artist Solus to paint two boxing ballerinas on her home last year, which were met with admiration from the local community.
However, the local authority of Dún Laoghaire-Rathdown County Council informed her that the mural was painted in contravention of bye-laws and that she would need to apply for permission for the paintings.
She applied for permission to retain the mural, but this application was rejected by the council.
The decision was appealed to An Bord Pleanála, who upheld it.
Speaking to RTÉ's News At One programme today, she said: "It worked so brilliantly because they literally stretched to the skies and they danced off the building because they are dominant and it is a statement piece."
"There was just a net of support and excitement and joy. It was one of the brilliant things about the project, so I would never regret doing it, because it gave so many people so much happiness."
She also said there was "no pertaining regulation for public art on a private property" and that legislation which was not relevant to the circumstances at hand were applied in the ruling.
This left her with no choice but to have the mural removed.
"Very sadly (the boxing ballerinas were painted over yesterday), I feel a sense of failure," she said.
Ms McGovern is now calling for a change in legislation.
"I had to go through the same process as if I was building 60 apartments, so there is no process for art and there needs to be a process for this kind of project," she said.
