The Claddagh Embrace

Background

Katherine Zappone and Ann Louise Gilligan lost a case in the High Court in 2006 for the recognition by Ireland of their Canadian same-sex marriage.^[1] The Civil Partnership and Certain Rights and Obligations of Cohabitants Act 2010 instituted civil partnership in Irish law. After the 2011 general election, the Fine Gael and Labour parties formed a coalition government, whose programme included the establishment of a Constitutional Convention to examine potential changes on specified issues, including "Provision for the legalisation of same-sex marriage". The Convention considered the issue in May 2013 and voted to recommend that the state should be required, rather than merely permitted, to allow for same-sex marriage.^[2] Its report was formally submitted in July and the government formally responded in December, when Taoiseach Enda Kenny said a referendum would be held "no later than mid-2015".^[3]

Some legal academics claimed that extending marriage to same-sex couples did not require a constitutional amendment and could have been accomplished by an ordinary Act of the Oireachtas.^[4][5] Then-minister Shatter disagreed in November 2013, stating that there was "ample case law" to the effect that "marriage is understood as being between one man and one woman".^[6]

In January 2015, the wording of the proposed amendment was agreed at a special cabinet meeting and published in the press. The bill was formally introduced in the Dáil by the Minister for Justice and Equality, Frances Fitzgerald.^[7][8]

Creation and destruction

The Claddagh Embrace was created by Roscommon town street artist and LGBTQ rights activist Joe Caslin as part of the Yes Equality campaign^[9] during the lead up to the referendum on the Thirty-fourth Amendment of the Constitution of Ireland, which legalized same-sex marriage in the Republic of Ireland.^[10][11][12] It was pasted^[13] and unveiled 10 April 2015^[14] on the historic Rick's Burgers building opposite gay bar The George at the corner of Dame Street and South Great George's Street in Dublin, Ireland.^{[12][15][16][17]}

It was created using paper and a non-acrylic glue made from potatoes,^[11][18] and created on the Rick's Burgers building with permission from the owner.^[19] It was inspired by a photograph taken by Dublin photographer Sean Jackson depicting two men,^[10] and Frederic William Burton's painting The Meeting on the Turret Stairs.^[18] It depicted a male same-sex couple cuddling in a monochromatic "pencil drawn" style.^[18][17][15] The name is a reference to the Claddagh ring.^[13]

On 15 April, DCC issued a complaint letter to Caslin, calling for its removal, as Caslin had not sought planning permission for artwork on the historic building.^[20][21] Prior to this, DCC was sent several requests for the statue's removal or covering up from people campaigning for the referendum to fail.^[22] After the letter, 15,000 people signed an online petition to save the mural.^[20]

On 29 April 2015, it was heavily damaged after days of expected continuous rainfall,^[11] with parts of it peeling and withering as the paper dissolved in the rain.^[18][23] Speaking to TheDailyEdge.ie, Caslin said that he was expecting it to happen.^[24]