Art gallery board to discuss Cooney's motion today

The 15-member board of the Luan Art Gallery will meet this afternoon to discuss its response to Cllr Mark Cooney's removal of an artwork from the new facility. The board is due to meet at 4pm this afternoon to discuss Cllr Cooney's call to remove Shane Cullen's 'Fragmens sur le Institutions Republicaines IV' to be removed from the gallery. The artwork is based on smuggled messages from H-block prisoners during the 1981 hunger strike. Cllr Cooney tabled a motion at last week's town council meeting calling for the removal of the artwork, but councillors instead agreed to refer to motion to the board of the art gallery for a response. Athlone Art and Heritage Ltd is the body which was set up to manage facilities such as Athlone Castle, the Luan Gallery, and the Abbey Road Artists' Studios. Miriam Mulrennan is the manager of Athlone Art and Heritage. The chairman of its board is Labour councillor and Athlone Mayor Jim Henson, while the other members are: Michael McDonnell, Moira Hardiman, Barry Kehoe, John Walsh, Finian Corley, Catherine Kelly, Gearoid O'Brien, Cllr Kevin 'Boxer' Moran, Celine Sheridan, Cllr Sheila Buckley Byrne, Dr Harman Murtagh, Hugh O'Reilly and Marian Fitzgibbon.