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UN sculpture will celebrate contributions made by Irish

February 16, 2011

By Staff Reporter

By Jack Holland

A ship sculpture to commemorate the Irish contribution to the world is set to occupy one of the most conspicuous sites in New York City.

The 26-foot by 24-foot work in bronze entitled "Arrival," by Irish sculptor John Behan, will stand at the UN Plaza alongside the works of such internationally famous artists as Henry Moore and Barbara Hepworth. The site is already well under construction in preparation for the installation of the work, which is scheduled to take place by the end of August.

The Irish taoiseach, Bertie Ahern, will formally unveil the monument as a gift to the UN at a special ceremony on Nov. 30. The secretary general, Kofi Anan, will accept the gift on behalf of the UN.

The sculpture is in line with the presentation of gifts by other Member States to the UN.

On Friday, July 14, Irish Minister of State Martin Cullen, who has responsibility for the Office of Public Works, met with UN architects and then led a group of government officials and reporters to inspect the site and talk about the work and its purpose.

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The site is on the East River side of the plaza. Irish emigrants will be represented disembarking from the ship along two gangplanks going in the direction of the river. Altogether, there will be 150 figures, cast in bronze, the majority of them on the deck. The sculpture weighs 11 tons and its estimated cost will be £500,000.

On Friday, Cullen emphasized that this was not a Famine monument.

"This is to commemorate the contribution of Irish people to the world," he told reporters. "It represents a very confident, positive view of the Irish." Because of the current upturn in Ireland’s economic prospects, the minister explained, "the timing is right for

for us to do this now."

Cullen praised the UN officials’ enthusiasm and support for the project which he said was evident right from its conception.

The designer of the site, Mary McKenna, was also present. McKenna is a senior architect at the Office of Public Works. She was the project architect for the Ceide Fields Visitor Center on the coast of County Mayo. The center has been described as a "gateway to an ancient landscape . . . a 5000-year-old stone age settlement" by the Atlantic Ocean.

Behan is an internationally acclaimed sculptor whose previous works includes the National Famine Memorial at Murrisk, Co. Mayo, which also features a ship. It has been described by arts critic Patricia Hourican as standing like a "grim sentinel over death." According to Hourican, Behan’s work "often seems to be an effort to translate literary themes into bronze." It has been collected by among others President Clinton, Queen Beatrix of Sweden and Samuel Beckett.

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