Write a comment
Planning permission has been granted for a sculpture of Tom Dunn, a hedge school teacher in The Square in Rostrevor. It's part of a SEUPB funded project with Newry, Mourne and Down District Council commissioning the £24,500 artwork as part of their PEACE IV Shared Spaces and Services programme.
As part of their commissioning council documentation explained "Tom Dunn was the local Hedge School and Master in Rostrevor, through his work with the Protestant and Catholic communities he is locally known as the ‘Peasant Patriot’. This piece of art should complement the ongoing Peace IV project which will develop an Educational Shared Space, a Shared Walkway, an Educational toolkit and a Hedge Summer school, focusing on the good community relations work of Tom Dunn who helped local people move towards a more integrated, cohesive and shared society.
"The piece of art should celebrate the history of Tom Dunn in the local area and will be used by the local schools and Churches for shared learning projects."
Currently the site is a public community space with 2 benches and a table. The sculpture will be installed between these two granite benches. The Tom Dunn sculpture will be cast in bronze and welded to a box frame foundation set in to the ground. The artist has been commissioned.
Giving reasoning for granting permission planners said "It is considered that the proposal, which is small in nature and scale will have limited impact primarily due to its small size, nature, appearance, and sympathetic siting (details as set out above). The proposed location indicated, on an existing area of hard-standing, will not impact on any landscape feature."
