Mayor planning to erect sculpture of a pig in the heart of Limerick

A SCULPTURE of a pig is going to be installed at a newly-created ‘pocket park’ in the city centre, Mayor John Moran has said.

It will mark Limerick’s proud history in the pork and meat production industry which has given rise to the city being known as ‘Pigtown’.

Using his devolved funding, Mayor Moran is designating a parcel of land at the junction of Parnell Street and Sexton Street as a small park.

“We want to put a large pig in there in the Pocket Park to represent Pigtown. People want the park to reflect the fact this is the area where all the abattoirs were, in the centre of Pigtown.”

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He says there will be a competition later this year for somebody to design something that represents Pigtown.

“It will be a statue of a pig. When you live in a city, you expect to be able to smile when you turn a corner and see something fun. I’m sure if we pull that off, it will be one of the first places people who come to Limerick will want to go to show they have arrived,” Mayor Moran told Limerick Live.

The pocket park will also be home to a mural, and a chess board, similar to what is in the Hunt Museum garden which he once chaired.

The executive mayor said the idea to install a chess board came from talking to students at Presentation National School, located near the new park.