Where to next for the ‘stone carrying man’ on the Navan-Kells road roundabout?

The 'On the Great Wide Open' sculpture on the Navan Kells Road roundabout in Navan will be put into storage for a period, when construction on the junction with the new road begins.

As work continues on the LDR4 link road that will cross the River Blackwater linking Rathaldren Road to the Navan-Kells road, the roundabout is to be replaced with a signal controlled junction.

Meath County Council confirmed that the sculpture of a stone carrying man will be removed and placed into storage to facilitate construction. “When the junction construction works are completed, it is proposed to re-erect the artwork in close proximity to the junction,” a spokesperson said.

The Mayor of Navan, Cllr Eddie Fennessy said he had heard lots of discussion recently about the fate of this statue.

“It's a beautifully cut piece of stone and we definitely need to find it a new home.

“Because of its proximity to Tara Mines and it was commissioned to honour the people who dedicated their lives to the mining industry in Navan, the common consensus is to keep it in that general area.

“The Andy Connolly Roundabout is where everyone thinks it should go. And it probably should, Andy being a miner himself.

“However I have concerns with that location. A truck crossed the roundabout recently and I'm aware of two other instances where vehicles lost control and crossed the roundabout. Would there be a danger of it being destroyed in an accident?

“We need a quick decision on this. It really is a nice piece of artwork. It doesn't deserve to be kept in storage for any longer than it should be.”

The On the Great Wide Open' is a 3.2m stone sculpture of a man carrying a large stone on his shoulder.

Created by Patrick Barry, it pays tribute to all of the people who dedicated their lives to the mining industry in Navan.

Unveiled on 18th May 2012, by then Mayor, Cllr Anton McCabe, the sculpture represents the quarrying of stone and its movement from one historic location to another. Three tonnes of limestone came from Kilkenny for the sculpture, whilst zinc extracted locally from Tara Mines was used for the boulder being carried by the man.

The new LDR4 link road, which is expected to open by the end of the year, will meet the Navan Kells Road at what is now the roundabout on which the sculpture is located. The roundabout is to be replaced with a junction with traffic lights,

The new 1.15km stretch of roadway is expected to slash travel times for traffic coming into Navan from the northside of the town and reduce the snarl-ups that currently blight the Abbeylands and Fire Station junctions.