Irish Examiner view: Statues not the only way to mark the past

The decade of centenaries

It is a sign of the challenging times that Cork City Council last week voted down proposals to erect statues of Tomás Mac Curtain, Terence MacSwiney, and Michael Collins on St Patrick St because they did not include any female representation. Picture: Clare Keogh

Commemorating a difficult past is always challenging. We saw that at the start of the year, when Government plans to memorialise the Royal Irish Constabulary provoked widespread public anger and debate. 

In a global context, the Black Lives Matter movement forced an ongoing discussion about how figures implicated in some of the wrongs of the past continue to be honoured in the cityscapes of the present.