Seán Sherlock (Cork East, Labour) | Oireachtas source

I thank the members for sharing their views. It is the view of the committee that the statue should remain. From a technical point of view the petition is deemed inadmissible because it is asking us to do something we do not have the power to do. However, it is an interesting one. Deputy Mitchell is right. Sometimes there is an eclectic range of petitions before us and we are respectful to the petitioners but there is a clear view in this case that, as the emeritus professor of history at University College Cork, John A. Murphy, said when quoting from George Santayana, a philosopher poet, a civilised people does not tear out the pages of history, it simply turns them over. We acknowledge the presence of the statue and that it is symbolic. However, the artistic merit attributed to the statue given that it is the work of John H. Foley probably supersedes the statue's subject. We are clear on our position and I thank the petitioner for-----