True colours... Inclusion and diversity murals on display in Navan

Young people from Navan have been busy in recent weeks painting two very attractive murals in Clogherboy as part of an inclusion and diversity project.

The youngsters were members of Youth Work Ireland Meath group and gave up a lot of their time to create the artwork.

The group received funding from the Department of Education for an Inclusion and Diversity Project.

"We had in house workshops about inclusion and diversity and the youngsters spoke of unity, acceptance and kindness," youth worker, Sabrina Bradley explains.

"The young people did up posters working with artist, Anna Doggett and then decided to use the designs for murals in Clogherboy."

Sabrina said the young people gave up a lot of their free time to undertake the project and the painting. "They were very eager to get involved. Because it was outside, it was a case of weather permitting and they went out in their free time whenever they had the chance."

"They really wanted to get their message of acceptance and kindness out and they are very proud of the murals. Some of them were more artistic than others but they collaborated very well," she said.

Sabrina said there was great support locally for the project. "The neighbours were great, very supportive. Tom, the icecream man treated them to icecreams and another neighbour, Trish was great encouragement for them."

There were 10 young people involved in the project and they are delighted at t he very positive response the art work has received.

"Everybody has been congratulating them and telling them how lovely the murals are," she said.

Sabrina said they are looking at further funding with a view to creating more murals in spring next year.

The Mayor of Navan, Cllr Eddie Fennessy said that Sabrina and her youth group carried out amazing work over the past few weeks.

"The murals they created have brightened the area and made it friendlier. I’d like them to extend that project by repainting the original Clogherboy mural next year.

“Almost nine thousand vehicles travel through Clogherboy every day. The visual impact of their mural is huge, I thank Sabrina, the local children and the artist Anna Doggett for their effort and I look forward to working on similar projects over the coming years.”

At a recent meeting of Navan Municipal Council, Cllr Fennessy had asked the Executive if planning permission is a requirement for the installation of murals or paintings on service boxes in public spaces in Navan and if that is the case, to provide an explanation of the process involved."

He was told all proposed development should be assessed to determine if it is considered to be exempt development or requires planning permission and further information is available on the council's website.

The process to determine if development is exempt or requires planning permission is known as a Section 5 declaration and this can be submitted to the Planning Authority and Technical Planning staff shall form an opinion on the proposal and the applicant is notified accordingly.

Cllr Fennessy said permission for mural projects was always very complicated, a Section 5 application should streamline that process and could potentially deliver some really great projects on service boxes, public spaces, alleys and laneways across Navan.

“The murals at Clogherboy are an excellent example of what can be achieved," he said.