Seán Russell Statue

Head and shoulders above the rest. Mostly shoulders. YMMV.

For many years, this statue of Sean Russell existed in decapitated form, after vandals lopped off the head. Y’see, there is some controversy surrounding the suitability of Mr Russell as a statue — he fought for Ireland’s freedom but he also went riding around in U-​boats with Nazis. (I think this was the working title of the Drew Barrymore chick flick Riding in Cars With Boys.) Only recently did his head get recreated and reattached but there was more indignity to come.
Protestors kept defacing the statue with swastikas and slogans like «Nazi scum», which was a bit of a blow to the parks committee who had finally gotten around to re-​heading him. It painted over the graffiti but it kept coming back. Eventually, some hippies painted over the swastikas with peace signs and words like «peace» and «love». This seems to have brought an unofficial armistice between the opposing factions.

God love poor Seán Russell. It seems that no-​one else does.
The Seán Russell statue in Fairview Park was recently unveiled complete with a shiny new head (the old one had been removed by vandals, more on that later), and has been vandalised with spray-​paint yet again.
First, a brief biography of Seán Russell. Seán Russell fought in the Easter Rising, the War of Independence, and later took the anti-​Treaty side in the Civil War, and later still became leader of the IRA Army Council (if any of the above terms are double Dutch to you, read an Irish history book — it’ll all make sense then).
Due to his impeccable republican credentials, a statue was erected to Russell in his native Fairview after his death in the 1950s.
And here his posthumous troubles began. The original statue had its right arm raised. Right-​wing activists broke off said arm, claiming that it was raised in a communist salute. The arm was later replaced, but in a lower pose. Surely that was the end of the controversy, yes?
No. You see, in the 1930s, Seán Russell, as part of his fundraising activities, travelled to Nazi Germany in order to procure arms, and died in a German U-​boat while attempting to return to Ireland. This event led to left-​wing activists cutting his head off in 2004. This unnamed anti-​fascist group conveniently ignored the fact that Russell also travelled to both America and the USSR in his search for arms, so if visiting a country to procure arms is an indication of your political leanings, Seán Russell must have been a very confused individual indeed (Nazi, capitalist, commie).
So, the Seán Russell statue in Fairview Park is worth a visit, if only to see it in all of its restored glory before the next group of zealots attack it. Who knows who could be next to take a disliking to this inanimate piece of bronze? The social democrats? Episcopalians? Pigeon fanciers?