Dublin 8 Mural Key In Hope To Change Irish Law

Ireland is facing a conversation about street art laws and the mural on South Circular Road is at the centre of discussions

“I would be disappointed if Dublin 8 became another dull grey and white area.”

By Kolja Nurnberg

Dublin 8’s most famous piece of street art, the David Attenborough mural, was set to be the subject of a prosecution by the Dublin City Council (DCC) in June before they dropped the case shortly before the first hearing.

The court was set to decide over the legality of three prominent Dublin street murals, including the one celebrating the environmentalist’s life.

The mural on South Circular Road, by artist collective Subset, was allegedly allowed by residents but never acquired the permission of the city’s planning department.

Under Irish law, organisers of public murals need planning permission, which led to DCC issuing multiple warnings and enforcement notices to Subset.

The prosecution was set to take place in June, but DCC asked for the court to strike out the case only days before the first hearing, stating that this had now become a matter which involved issues concerning freedom of expression and artistic expression and not a legal question.

Even so, Subset claimed that they were happy if this was the end of this matter, they also declared that their “fight” was not yet over.

In an interview with the Guardian, a spokesperson of the collective stated how they had hoped to start conservation in Ireland about liberalising laws which affect street art.

“We have put forward proposed amendments to the laws in conjunction with architects, solicitors, but we were left just going around the houses; speaking with city council representatives, Arts Council representatives, ministers and really to no avail.”

He further insisted that Dublin should embrace the street culture as other cities have and adapt to the ways of Berlin and Melbourne.

Berlin was famously dubbed “the graffiti Mecca of the urban art world” by artist Emilie Tricie and was awarded the title UNESCO’s City of Design in 2006.

Melbourne made street art legal in the 2010s, only having the artists require written permission from the owner of the wall the street art was set to be painted on.

In a street survey, a Dublin 8 resident only highlighted how happy he was that the David Attenborough mural was never taken down.

“I walk past the mural everyday [...] It’s nice to live in a colourful city . I would be disappointed if Dublin 8 became another dull grey and white area.”

In the same survey, another resident stated that the freedom of expression in the form of murals and graffitis is very important but maintained that there still should be laws which prevent racist and xenophobic art.

In Ireland, investment and interest in street art and murals have increased heavily over the last decade.

Since 2017 the Creative Ireland Programme has funded murals in Cork, Kildare and Kerry, stating:

Now that the case was dropped, Subset seeks to be awarded the legal cost of the halted prosecution as they claim that they feared DCC’s application to drop the case was a “tactical move”.

Subset still argues that they are entitled to costs as the art group incurred “enormous expenses” preparing a defence.