Opinions divided on the Bull - but that's how it should be

There is no surer method of evading the world than by following art, and no surer method of linking oneself to it than by art.  So said the celebrated German writer, Johann Wolfgang von Goethe. So, the question is: is the new sculpture in Navan's Market Square a suitable link between the people of Navan and their world? First and foremost, as with any new arrival, this sculpture needs a name; no doubt, some sensible, respectable title will be proposed - something that won't offend too many sensibilities. But the unofficial names for this creation… the witty products of the truly creative, slightly twisted Irish mind are the names I'm looking forward to hearing! Perhaps more striking than the sculpture itself is the idea that its very existence has caused so much controversy. Is it not a mind-boggling fact that 4,500 people actually signed a petition objecting to its erection at Market Square so many years ago? It's nothing short of stunning that so many people could feel so strongly on such an issue that, when all is said and done, will have no real or material impact on anyone's life. I'm not suggesting for one minute that anyone was fooled into signing this petition or that anyone who signed it is a fool; I am just amazed that so many people were so vehemently opposed to this notion that they put their names to paper to oppose it. After all, this is Ireland - not France - and we are not a race given to protest and guillotine-sharpening. Then again, all this opposition was going on at a time when we were living in something of a fool's paradise, spending fool's gold and had nothing else to worry about. Apparently, this project was funded through the Per Cent for Art Scheme which ring-fences up to one per cent of capital construction projects for art projects. These pieces are intended to engage with, and reflect, the environment and history of an area. Accordingly then, a sculpture for Market Square would be expected to reflect the history of that part of the town, hence the bull, which is representative of the cattle markets which once took place there around the turn of the 20th century. However, some really interesting alternatives to the bull have been mentioned. Personally, I thought a piece reflecting the role of mining would be a fantastic idea - after all, Tara Mines remains the biggest zinc mine in Europe and the fifth largest in the world and has been a backbone of the Navan economy for years, employing up to 700 people today. But would it not be slightly odd to use public funding to promote what is, after all, a privately-owned and for profit business? Navan was also home to a thriving furniture industry for many years and locally produced furniture for decades was a byword for quality and value throughout Ireland and beyond. For many young people, a job in the trade was a passport to a good livelihood and a secure future. But all this changed from 1990s onwards as cheap foreign imports flooded the market and forced the local manufacturers out of business. But it is a business that was synonymous with Navan's past and should in some way be commemorated, considering what it was worth in terms of employment alone. Another worthy suggestion has been the call for a piece of art reflecting the fact that the inventor of the Beaufort wind scale, Sir Francis Beaufort, was born in Navan in 1774. His boyhood home at Flower Hill was razed to the ground in the early 1990s to make way for a new road and - apart from naming a local secondary school after him - there is no lasting monument to one of the most famous maritime figures of the past several centuries whose wind speed invention is still used by mariners and meteorologists the world over to this day. So here we are, with a limestone bull to look at in Market Square - or a bull's backside depending on your vantage point, as so eloquently put by opponent Paddy Pryle last week. Perhaps we should be a bit more like New Yorkers in their view of the Wall Street Bull - an 11 feet-tall bronze sculpture whose creator simply decided to sculpt and gift to the people of New York after the 1987 stock market crash. They see their bull as a symbol of aggressive financial optimism and aggression - a force which cannot be restrained. Interestingly, in our sculpture, two men are trying to restrain the bull. Perhaps this could be seen as a symbol for our current economic impediments - obstacles that will eventually be defeated by our determination to break free and prosper once more. Whatever your view on this sculpture, the fact that you have an opinion is proof of its success. The very point of art is to get people talking, and this is precisely what has happened, even though it's over 10 years since the decision was first made to site the bull in the middle of Market Square. Ironically, the campaign against the bull is partly, if not mostly, responsible for making it such a success. Art only fails when it fails to induce discussion.