Sculptor to start Princess Grace commission for Newport town

A SCULPTOR is set to start work on a statue of Princess Grace of Monaco for Newport town in the coming days.

It is one of two statues being commissioned to celebrate the town's two Graces - Princess Grace, whose ancestors hailed from Newport, and Clew Bay's Grace O'Malley.

Newport Business Association have announced that their application for LEADER funding for the commissioning of the two bronze statues has been approved.

Renowned sculptor Mark Rode will start on the commissioning of the Grace Kelly statue in the coming days and it is expected to take in the region of up to 12 months for completion and installation.

Commencement on the Grace O'Malley statue will take place at a later date.

A statement on the Newport Business Association Facebook page set out: 'This project will be of immense benefit to the town. It will drive extra revenue in the form of tourism footfall and will pave the way for future investment in business in Newport.

'We would like to thank our project officer Sue O'Toole along with the staff in South West Mayo Development Company and Mayo LAG for their help in getting the funding across the line.

'Our sincere thanks to Councillors Brendan Mulroy, Peter Flynn and John O'Malley for their GMA allocation and to Padraig Philbin, head of tourism in Mayo County Council, for his allocation.

'A special word of thanks to all those who have donated to this project to date. We are continuing our fundraising efforts and we would really appreciate your help in raising these funds.'

You can donate through the GoFundMe page https://gofund.me/851c3ad9 or if you wish to make a direct donation to the association's bank account, email them at nbanewport@gmail.com for details.