By Fiona Frawley
The statue has been vandalised twice in as many weeks.
After years of being rubbed up by many a tourist, in the last fortnight Molly Malone's front has been painted black and written over in green marker.
Following the initial slathering of black paint Dublin City Council had stepped in to clean the statue, but before long Molly was targeted again with someone writing "
7 years bad luck" across her chest, with the words "
Good Luck" sprayed on the side of her wheelbarrow.
We had previously speculated that the vandalism could be the act of someone looking to deter tourists from fondling Molly's chest, and a recent social post from Imelda May certainly supports this theory.
Taking to
Instagram, the singer sounded off about the tourist tradition of "groping" Molly, writing:
"Molly Malone statue ‘vandalised’ and I’m here for it!!!!! I’ve been years protesting against the groping of Mollys breasts (tourists are told to do this for luck?!) and have encouraged friends to join me when I stand there physically protesting against this with my daughter beside me".
May also called out the lack of statues of women across the city, pointing out that Molly is one of just two (the other being Constance Markievicz), adding that while Molly is a fictional character, she "certainly represents real Irish women as we sing of her across the world".
The singer continued:
"I cannot tell you the rage I feel every time I see her being molested daily. Yes I know she’s a statue but she stands for so much yet gets so little respect. Do people grope the abundant male statues?!!! No. ‘Rub his penis for luck’?! Ridiculous I hear you say.
"Women have been objectified forever and the only statue in Dublin with breasts is basically assaulted in front of our children’s eyes daily, what message does that give to the next generations?’ Whomever ‘vandalised’ Molly is speaking up for all of us. Stand with us in saying
Hands Off!!!"
Obviously, the tradition of rubbing a statues mammaries for "luck" could do with being phased out - but is defacing them an appropriate alternative? Is the graffiti not a similar invasion of Molly's personal space and dignity? Is there another way to get the message across?
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