Crane used to remove graffiti from landmark Cork building

Four large letters, EDSK, were spray-painted on the southern facade of Grand Parade building

Three workers in a hanging platform clean up the graffiti spray-painted onto 46 Grand Parade on Thursday morning, with a safety boat positioned alongside in the river. River Lee. Pictures: Larry Cummins 

As graffiti removal jobs go, it could be one of the most complex and costly undertaken in Cork City in recent years.

A large crane was deployed in the city centre on Thursday to hoist workers into position so they could remove ugly graffiti from a very inaccessible section of a landmark city building.

Taggers defaced the southern facade of number 46 Grand Parade, one of the most recognisable structures on the street, about a year ago. They spray-painted four large letters, EDSK, onto its southern facade which overlooks the southern channel of the river Lee.

Taggers spray-painted four large letters, EDSK, onto the southern facade of the building, which overlooks the southern channel of the River Lee.

This section of the building is not accessible from the street. The taggers could only have spray-painted this area by gaining access to a roof, and then suspending themselves over the edge.

It is the responsibility of the owners of buildings to remove graffiti from their private property.

On Thursday morning, an operator from East Cork Crane Hire deployed a 90-tonne mobile Liebherr crane near the national monument on Grand Parade, extended its 90m boom to about 50m, and hoisted four workers in a ‘man crate’ into the air, before swinging them gently over the river and into position facing the graffitied area.

There, suspended above the river, they began cleaning the wall. The work was completed by the evening.

Munster Technological University, which owns the building, has not yet responded to requests for comment.

Earlier this year, the former lord mayor, Independent councillor Kieran McCarthy, called for a new taskforce to tackle the growing problem of graffiti in the city, following the “rise of a new generation” of ‘taggers’ who have defaced several buildings in the inner city.

Workers in their 'man crate' during the clean-up operation.

Mr McCarthy said: “We had a hold on this for a few years, but there now seems to be a new generation coming through, who seem more ruthless about what they tag. And it’s clear that they have no sense of pride in the city. We need to nip this in the bud.”

No 46 Grand Parade, formerly home to the Cork City Club and Bank of Scotland, was later the headquarters of the Legion of Mary in the Diocese of Cork. Between 2010 and 2013, it was occupied by Certus, a bank services outsourcing group.

The 13,000sq ft four-storey building was bought by Cork Institute of Technology in 2015, restored and reopened as a gallery and art student hub in 2017.

Designed by brothers James and George Richard Pain, who were also responsible for the design of Blackrock Castle and the 19th-century redesign of Christchurch, now the Triskel, the listed building sits next to Nano Nagle bridge on Grand Parade.

In a statement, MTU said: “The removal of the graffiti was a small part of a much bigger contract involving specialist work to a listed building.

“In relation to the graffiti, this work had to be carried out over the River Lee and, consequently, considerable health and safety precautions had to be addressed.

“The crane was not used to remove the graffiti alone but to undertake other high-level essential maintenance works also.”