Ronnie Drew Tribute/Statue?

brummytom · 13-08-2009 11:45PM #1

http://www.herald.ie/national-news/city-news/mayors-hopes-for-tribute-to-ronnie-1855781.html

Dublin's Lord Mayor hopes to have a memorial to Ronnie Drew in place before she leaves office next summer.

Next Sunday will mark the first anniversary of the folk legend's death, aged 73, after a two-year battle with cancer.

And Lord Mayor Emer Costello said the milestone would give new emphasis to her campaign for a permanent memorial to the singer.

The idea was put on hold while Dublin City Council's Strategic Policy Committee (SPC) on Arts considered what tribute would be most fitting.

The SPC had suggested that a statue should not be erected until the person had been dead for 25 years, but Ms Costello said this "annoyed" her in the case of Ronnie Drew.

Plans are already afoot for a memorial to Drew's fellow band member Luke Kelly, who died 1984.

Ms Costello said: "Maybe they should look at it in the context of the Luke Kelly one, proposed for the Docklands.
"I said at the time that we should have a suitable memorial and it should be a statue or a bust. I really think we should have some sort of physical manifestation."

In light of a motion tabled to the Council last October, the Mayor said: "I got a very positive response from a lot of people that there should be something to recognise his contribution to Dublin.
"It could be done in the Docklands, along with the Luke Kelly one."
The Lord Mayor told the Herald that since a year has now passed, she would love to see her original plan bear fruit.

"It would be nice in light of the fact that I am Lord Mayor if we could do something between now and the end of my year," she said.
One of the proposals was for a tribute similar to the statue of Thin Lizzy rocker Phil Lynott on Grafton Street.

It was also suggested that the new Liffey bridge at Marlborough Street be named after Ronnie.

Stars of stage and screen attended Ronnie's funeral a year ago in Greystones, Co Wicklow, where he was buried beside his wife, Deirdre.

A lot of people here are from Dublin, what do you think about the idea? Deserved by Ronnie or a waste of money?

phasers · 13-08-2009 11:47PM

The Lord Mayor is a woman?

...Is she hot?

galwayrush · 13-08-2009 11:48PM

More deserved than any politician and definitely more deserving than the statue to Nazi loving Sean Russell.

Mossy Monk · 13-08-2009 11:50PM

galwayrush wrote: »

Nazi loving Sean Russell.

Please explain with facts. Thank you.

El Siglo · 13-08-2009 11:51PM

phasers wrote: »

The Lord Mayor is a woman?

...Is she hot?

No, see for yourself. I saw her on Vincent Browne during the European Elections, she's full of her own excrement to beat!:D

brummytom · 13-08-2009 11:51PM

galwayrush wrote: »

More deserved than any politician

Don't know anything about the other bloke, so can't comment.. but agree with this ^^^

phasers · 13-08-2009 11:53PM

El Siglo wrote: »

No, see for yourself. I saw her on Vincent Browne during the European Elections, she's full of her own excrement to beat!:D

Oh God

Anyway, I think Ireland needs more tributes to it's great artists. A Ronnie Drew statue would look savage as well

mike65 · 13-08-2009 11:53PM

Dublin?

enniscorthy · 13-08-2009 11:55PM

ronnie drew tribute brill idea

My name is URL · 13-08-2009 11:55PM

El Siglo wrote: »

No, see for yourself. I saw her on Vincent Browne during the European Elections, she's full of her own excrement to beat!:D

I would. I'd make her wear her chain too

It might seem atrocious but I hear you can graze your pigs on Grafton St if you spend a night with her

I'll infect the pigs with flu first

It's all part of a masterplan

brummytom · 13-08-2009 11:55PM

El Siglo wrote: »

No, see for yourself. I saw her on Vincent Browne during the European Elections, she's full of her own excrement to beat!:D

Urghh

PrivateEye · 13-08-2009 11:59PM

The man was as much a part of Dublin as the capitals streets, I remember being devastated when I heard he was gone, and swinging straight into O' Donoghues on the first bus to town.

A true Ronnie story, leaving The Pogues gig one Christmas in The Point, a lad I knew seen him out by the bar. The following encounter then took place. I truly regret not seeing it with my own eyes, but they swear by it.

"Here Ronnie, gis an autograph"
Its Mr. Drew to you young fella
"Alright Mr. Drew, gis an autograph"
Give me a fiver and I'll give you an autograph
*Hands over a fiver, Ronnie signs the fiver and hands it back*
"Never pay for an autograph son, you can frame that"

**Also any memorial to Luke and Ronnie should surely include mention of Ciaran Bourke, an original Dubliner?

brummytom · 14-08-2009 12:04AM

PrivateEye wrote: »

**Also any memorial to Luke and Ronnie should surely include mention of Ciaran Bourke, an original Dubliner?

Agree completely, same goes for John and Barney when they leave us

And nice story, seems typical of him

My favourite is the (I presume) Infamous one of him and Barney which I'm shamelessly copied and pasted because I love it :pac:

Barney McKenna trotted in to join our toasted sambo lunch at this point, I remember. After a show in Northern Ireland with The Pogues in the early Nineties, Ronnie piped up, "Barney offered to drive my car back to Dublin because I was in no fit state to drive. Barney had never driven an automatic car before.

"He was going for a clutch which wasn't there and the car was jumping all over the road as we approached an army checkpoint in Derry at 70 miles an hour," Ronnie remembered. Eamonn Campbell added, importantly, the little detail that "there is a big sign signalling drivers to stop and switch their lights off".

"Barney can't find the switch!" Ronnie laughed.

The car is barrelling towards the army checkpoint when just as the officers were about to shoot these hirsute madmen Barney finds the brakes. "The car stops, Barney can't find the lever to wind down the window," Eamon remembered adding, hilariously, that "we end up being put in cells and being interrogated. Ronnie fell asleep during the interrogation". Because Barney was over the limit they had to be put in the cells for the night.

Ronnie takes up the tale. "I woke up bleary-eyed in the middle of night and, noticing my surroundings, said to Barney: 'Who booked us into this kip?'

"Barney looked back at me: 'Sing The Auld Triangle now, you bo**ix! You're in jail'.

brummytom · 14-08-2009 04:24PM

****in hell, I spent ages looking to find the 'add poll' option! Google's ****.
Anyway, Poll added.. considering there's so many Dubs on here, I'd be interested hearing what they think.

AnonoBoy · 14-08-2009 04:27PM

Thought this was going to be about Ronnie Biggs when I read the original thread title.

_blank_ · 14-08-2009 04:29PM

We have Luke Kelly bridge over The Tolka in Ballybough.

I'd like to see a statue to both Ronnie, Luke and the other Dubliners somewhere.

Maybe in the old Monto part of the city.

Snowie · 14-08-2009 04:43PM

well in that case I think moving hearts defiantly deserve one...

genericguy · 14-08-2009 04:43PM

Nah, i couldn't care less about ronnie drew.

stick up a statue of billy gibbons, his beard was way better.

BraziliaNZ · 14-08-2009 04:43PM

i dont think there should be a statue. Luke kelly, Thin Lizzy even has a statue and he had only 2 or 3 crap songs. Doesn't Pierce Brosnan have a statue somewhere? Richard Harris too? So any musician/artist that is mildly successful gets a statue now?
I wonder will S Mumba and Boyzone get statues when they die (soon hopefully).

genericguy · 14-08-2009 04:50PM

BraziliaNZ wrote: »

I wonder will S Mumba and Boyzone get statues when they die (soon hopefully).

The statue of phil lynott looks enough like her, she'll be grand without one.

And sure they named a street after padraig pearse, and he was a terrorist at the end of the day.

14-08-2009 04:55PM

I'm a non-dub, and Ronnie's the best thing you Dubs ever had going for you. Certainly opened my eyes to the good side of living here in this city of yours. I'll always, always regret never having gone and seen him perform, when I had all the time in the world.

Definitely a statue for him, close to O'Donoghue's.

humanji · 14-08-2009 04:58PM

brummytom wrote: »

Agree completely, same goes for John and Barney when they leave us

I have an image of John and Barney unveiling a Dubliners Statue with two empty spaces, for when they die.

biko · 14-08-2009 05:00PM

A Drew/Kelly statue would be nice.

Rebelheart · 14-08-2009 05:04PM

galwayrush wrote: »

More deserved than any politician and definitely more deserving than the statue to Nazi loving Sean Russell.

Ahistorical nonsense with no evidence to support it. But seeing as you want to digress in this thread about monuments which could be removed ....
In contrast to your baseless assertion, Dublin City Council could remove this monument to Irish-born people who "fought" for the British Empire in the Boer War at the start of the twentieth century. There, they engaged in scorched earth policies and the imprisonment of massive numbers of people in concentration camps in South Africa, with tens of thousands of women and children dying. This happened with the full knowledge of British officials and politicians back in London, and it continued over a period of years:

http://tinyurl.com/osy437

It was termed 'Traitors' Gate' immediately upon its erection (in 1907), but the people it honours committed much worse than mere national treachery. Odd how you, and people who think like you, seem to have no problem with having a monument to this horror in the centre of Dublin.

PrivateEye · 14-08-2009 05:04PM

So any musician/artist that is mildly successful gets a statue now?

The Dubliners are unique however, in that the 'O Donoghues scene' basically marked the re-emergence of Irish traditional music, and in a brand new form. The roots of the likes of The Pogues and Moving Hearts are in The Dubliners, they basically reinvented traditional music.

I've no doubt a lot of classic Dublin songs would be dead and buried by now were it not for The Dubliners. Ronnie was also a bit of a Dublin character in a way I don't think many others were, even growing up (I'm only 19 now) I can remember often seeing him out and about mingling with street traders and the sort. His contribution to Dublin life was huge.

They also had a massive influence on the Irish emigrant community in the UK, with singles making the UK Top 20 and packed out 'Irish Clubs' as well as plenty of air-time on what we'd consider 'Pirate indie stations' today. At times it wasnt too popular to be Irish in the U.K, but tunes like 'My Auld' Alarm Clock' from The Dubliners probably lightened the mood a bit! I'd have them up there with people like Flann O' Brien and the Behanas far as 'Dublin characters' go, its the mix of local character and international fame that I think makes them Grade A material for a statue.

If anyone was lucky enough to see Ronnie at the Death Disco years back with Shane McGowan blasting out punk tunes or singing along to The Irish Rover, you'd know his popularity stretches across age-groups and classes, though I would consider The Dubliners a core-part of 'working class Dublins' identity.

Can't help but think of that great Andy Irvine line about Ronnie...

"We thought he was Dublin through and through
But he was flown in from Dun Laoighre":D

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dhPfkDna0sw

brummytom · 14-08-2009 05:08PM

PrivateEye wrote: »

The Dubliners are unique however, in that the 'O Donoghues scene' basically marked the re-emergence of Irish traditional music, and in a brand new form. The roots of the likes of The Pogues and Moving Hearts are in The Dubliners, they basically reinvented traditional music.

I've no doubt a lot of classic Dublin songs would be dead and buried by now were it not for The Dubliners. Ronnie was also a bit of a Dublin character in a way I don't think many others were, even growing up (I'm only 19 now) I can remember often seeing him out and about mingling with street traders and the sort. His contribution to Dublin life was huge.

They also had a massive influence on the Irish emigrant community in the UK, with singles making the UK Top 20 and packed out 'Irish Clubs' as well as plenty of air-time on what we'd consider 'Pirate indie stations' today. At times it wasnt too popular to be Irish in the U.K, but tunes like 'My Auld' Alarm Clock' from The Dubliners probably lightened the mood a bit! I'd have them up there with people like Flann O' Brien and the Behanas far as 'Dublin characters' go, its the mix of local character and international fame that I think makes them Grade A material for a statue.

If anyone was lucky enough to see Ronnie at the Death Disco years back with Shane McGowan blasting out punk tunes or singing along to The Irish Rover, you'd know his popularity stretches across age-groups and classes, though I would consider The Dubliners a core-part of 'working class Dublins' identity.

Can't help but think of that great Andy Irvine line about Ronnie...

"We thought he was Dublin through and through
But he was flown in from Dun Laoighre":D

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dhPfkDna0sw

Great post - thanks. Agree that The Dubliners aren't pigeon-holed to a certain demographic, I mean, hell, I'm 15 and English and I (as do many people my age I know) love them.

I posted that Andy Irvine song over in the trad forum a while back, great song - the lyrics about Barney were great too;

"Well Banjo Barney calling the tune, Mary Jordon’s a whizz on the spoons
Well up the swanny and down the broom, Barney’s rising to it
They carry him bodily out the jacks
He empties his bladder and they carry him back
He swallows his pint and he’s right back on track, How the f*ck does he do it? " :pac:

And lads, I don't mean to whinge, but can we keep this thread about Ronnie Drew if possilble please?

Rebelheart · 14-08-2009 05:11PM

Magnus wrote: »

A Drew/Kelly statue would be nice.

I had much more time for Luke Kelly's singing but a statue to both of them or The Dubliners would be a nice addition to the Dublin landscape, insofar as statues of mere mortals have any purpose at all. But that's another issue.

ynotdu · 14-08-2009 06:53PM

without a doubt Ronnie deserves a statue,I even noticed that the Culchies/Rednecks:pac::D with one exception did not begrudge the idea.
He was part of Dublin city *in the rare oul times*
even the humble Ronnie must have been touched by this tribute to him and he got to see it BEFORE he died(most unusual for us Irish:D)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vGNxz7zeU10

ynotdu · 14-08-2009 07:12PM

As an aside,a while ago i heard Eamon Dunphy interview the owner of O,Donoghues pub when the *no singing* ban was lifted,cant remember his name but he sounded as much a rouge as Ronnie(in a nice way)
He said Ted Furey(the father of the fureys)was the first to take out a violin and start to play.
The owner was going to stop him but his wife persueded him just to allow a few tune,s.
The owner said he never looked back as suddenly customers passing by looked in for curiosity and He started selling beer at a speed of knots:)

Dave! · 14-08-2009 07:29PM

ynotdu wrote: »

without a doubt Ronnie deserves a statue,I even noticed that the Culchies/Rednecks:pac::D with one exception did not begrudge the idea.
He was part of Dublin city *in the rare oul times*
even the humble Ronnie must have been touched by this tribute to him and he got to see it BEFORE he died(most unusual for us Irish:D)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vGNxz7zeU10

I threw up a little when I saw that originally

Jayzus that's the worst tribute ever

They'll need to give him a 200ft diamond-studded, gold statue to make up for that travesty

My name is URL · 14-08-2009 07:31PM

A statue would be good, but tbh dedicating a music pub to him would be better

what better way to remember such a great musician than using his name to encourage more traditional musicians?

Ronnie Drew Tribute/Statue?

Should Ronnie be remembered with a statue? 97 votes

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