€100,000 public art for Athlone

A €100,000 public art installation is to be funded as part of the flood defence project being undertaken in Athlone.

Minister of State Kevin 'Boxer' Moran says there is an Office of Public Works Scheme which sees 1% of the cost of a major project being allocated to public art. As a result, he expects the €10m Athlone Flood Alleviation Scheme to result in the creation of a €100,000 piece of public art, possibly in the Quay area of the town.
“The idea is that if we do a scheme like this one, we would give something back to the community when we leave,” he says.
He asked Pat Keating, manager of the Athlone Municipal District, to make contact with the arts section of the OPW to “come up with some sort of (art) scheme that we’ll fund when this (flood defence) job is finished".