Chaplin statue back on the mend

FOR the past 14 years, it has drawn thousands of visitors to the seaside town of Waterville in Co Kerry.

Unfortunately, it has also attracted drunken revellers, vandals and souvenir hunters.

The life-sized likeness of Charlie Chaplin, sculpted by Valentia Island-based Alan Ryan Hall, has become almost as famous as the man himself and since 1996 it has helped put on the map the town where the silent movie star spent his retirement holidays.