Taoiseach 'very sympathetic' to facilitating request for funding to repair Cork's iconic Shandon clock

Taoiseach Micheál Martin has said he is “very sympathetic" to facilitating a request for Government funding for repairs to Cork’s historic Shandon clock.

The four-faced liar, as the clock has been known to generations of Cork people, has been telling the wrong time for almost a year, and its eastern face has been stopped on six o’clock for as long.

The clock mechanism, which was installed in 1847 by the then Cork Corporation, is the responsibility of Cork City Council, and for many years it was maintained by Philip Stokes of Stokes Clocks and Watches on MacCurtain St. 

However, last month, Mr Stokes said he had “stepped away from” the maintenance of the clock mechanism, due to serious safety concerns.

Last week’s meeting of Cork City Council was told that the cost of repairs for the clock will likely start at €400,000, with final costs to be determined before any works would commence.

Specialists 

The council’s director of services for planning and integrated development, Niall Ó Donnabháin, told Sinn Féin councillor Kenneth Collins that the works would necessitate “several specialists in conservation, horology and structural repair”.

Mr Ó Donnabháin said the council was in the process of applying for funding under the Department of Housing, Local Government, and Heritage Historic Structures Fund to contribute towards the repair costs.

In the Dáil on Tuesday, under the Order of Business, Ken O’Flynn, Independent Ireland TD for Cork North Central, asked the Taoiseach whether the Government would commit to funding repairs to the clock, noting that until 1859 it had been “the biggest clockface in Europe”.

A smiling Mr Martin explained the phrase “four-faced liar” for non-Cork audiences, telling Mr O’Flynn: “You are clearly in line with standing orders because that’s what, colloquially, Shandon – the clock - is known as.”  

Sympathetic

Responding to Mr O’Flynn’s question on Shandon, the Taoiseach said: “I am very sympathetic to facilitating that request and will speak to the minister about Shandon, which is one of Cork’s greatest landmarks.” 

A spokesperson for Cork City Council said on Wednesday it had applied to the Department of Housing, Local Government, and Heritage Historic Structures Fund, adding: “A decision on the outcome of the funding application is expected in due course”.

Sinn Féin councillor Kenneth Collins said it was very clear that the people of Cork wanted the clock on Shandon repaired.

“It’s most important that the funding the Cork City Council are looking for from the Government is given as soon as possible,” he said.