‘Put Rosie McCann statue on the banks of the Bann’

A Facebook page has been set up to try and rally enough support for a statue of Rosie.

The page creator said: “The aim of this page is to generate enough interest in order to ‘gently encourage’ the powers that be, that the time has come to erect a statue in honour of our most prolific leading lady in the same way that Crozier, McWilliams, Ferguson etc are already recognised - please comment, share and like and let’s see which ‘boreen’ this journey takes us down.”

They continued: “How do you think we should commemorate Rosie McCann? If it’s a statue or sculpture, where should it be located? What about an annual music festival? All thoughts will be greatly appreciated.”

Some suggestions put forward include a bronze statue or street art similar to Molly Malone in Dublin.

When asked what she thought of the idea Councillor Joan Baird said that it might be difficult to honour Rosie as she wasn’t a real person.

She explained: “Normally the Council erects blue plaques at the birth place of famous people from the area but this would be difficult seeing Rosie McCann was a fictional character in a song.

“I would suggest the page creator contacts the shadow council.” The song set near Banbridge was written by Cathal McGarvey (1866–1927) from Ramelton, County Donegal and is sung from the point of view of a young man who chances to meet a charming lady by the name of RosieMcCann, referred to as the “star of the County Down”.