Council cover up Smithfield Stormzy mural with crappy paint job

It was a sad day.

Earlier this year, many were delighted to find a Stormzy mural painted in Smithfield. It was just days before the star arrived in Dublin and to say it was a masterpiece is an understatement.

The Council Strikes Again... -#dublincity #culture #stormzy@Stormzy1 pic.twitter.com/jwgnCmblkW

— SUBSET (@SubsetDublin) November 23, 2017

However, it is no more. Dublin City Council confirmed that because there was no planning permission or application for its retention, the mural could not remain. Instead, there is now a 'Grey Wall'. An ironic plaque on the wall now reads: “Grey Wall is standout piece in Dublin City Council’s continuing series on the transience and meaninglessness of art.

Great to see @DubCityCouncil get the credit where the credit is most definitely due. Congrats. #Dublincity #dublincitycouncil #Stormzy #GreyWall #Bureaucracy #Smithfield (@Stormzy1 @SubsetDublin) pic.twitter.com/zTvQDgjFmC

— sterogers (@teenwolfrogers) December 21, 2017

“The drab, lifeless scene drains the colour from its surroundings, giving a stark warning about the threat of bureaucracy to imagination.” It continues: "A powerful statement to Smithfield's growing creative community about the fragility of art." An art collective group called Subset created the Stormzy mural and said they couldn't afford to apply for planning permission. “We’re a startup. We have very little money and in order for us to apply for planning permission… it would have been very costly and time-consuming," they told The Journal. Here's to another grey wall...