Call to replace Danny Boy monument

The Jane Ross commemoration monument, located on the town's Catherine Street, has been damaged by severe weather over the last number of months which has seen a corner of the Portland stone rapidly wore away. Limavady Borough Councillor Leslie Cubitt has now called on Heron Brothers and Consarc, the contractors undertaking the work for the new Roe Valley Arts and Cultural Centre, to donate a statue of both Jane Ross and the blind fiddler to "give back" to the rate payers of the borough.

Councillor Cubitt said; "A bronze statue of Jane Ross and the Blind Fiddler would be great markings for the town and the new civic centre, it would also be giving back to the ratepayers of the town who are paying for this multi-million building."

Calls were made last year for the stone monument to be moved to the new Arts and Cultural centre, due to be open later this year. But Councillor Cubitt feels the monument would not be aesthetically pleasing outside the new addition to the town.

"To put a piece of stone that has cracks and all sorts of wear and tear outside the borough's brand new civic centre would look terrible.

For the price we paid for it, 30,000, we could already have two bronze statues. I have not come across one member of the public who likes it. They don't know what it is or what it stands for and it's a waste of money."

"It should however be put to some good use. Break it up and fill pot holes with it."

The commemoration sculpture which is also a water feature, was created by Belfast-born artist, Philip Flanagan and commissioned by Limavady Borough Council and the Arts Council Lottery in 2002. It reflects the famous legend of how Jane Ross on hearing a blind fiddler outside her window in Main Street recorded the melody known around the world as 'The Londonderry Air'. The series of lines within the stone refer to the town's coat of arms, the lines of the musical stave and the River Roe.