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At the same time though, there is something I lik
e about the illegality of it, and the fact that this is fleeting. It’s not permanent, and that has always been attractive to me. Whiskey brands, streaming sites and events organisers slyly adopted the visual language of a rebellious artform to better disguise their promotions. The line between street art collective and advertising agency to a certain extent became indistinct. Yet, while a tamer means of expression today, nonetheless it remains in a legal grey area, with public art still requiring planning permission under state law. In part, Dublin City Council has noted, this is since, in certain cases, murals are presented as public art, when in fact, they contain subtle advertising materials. “It’s still mixed-up with vandalism to a certain degree,” says the artist Solus. “It’s becoming more mainstream, even if it’s not fully mainstream yet. But I think it is still being seen as edgy.” “It’s so hard to put up a piece of art at the moment,” says Solus. “There is a lot of work that I have had to turn down as a result of the planning permission.” The painter says that he tends to avoid being vocal on the question of planning. But, in February 2022, he was dragged into the debate after a homeowner in Dun Laoghaire commissioned him to paint a pair of ballerinas, donning boxing gloves on the front of her house. Once the Dun Laoghaire-Rathdown Council refused permission for the mural to be kept up, within a matter of weeks, the owner was forced to paint over it. “At the same time though, there is something I like about the illegality of it, and the fact that this is fleeting,” he says. “It’s not permanent, and that has always been attractive to me.” Nonetheless, Sinn Fein’s housing spokesperson Eoin O’Broin says it is essential that Dublin make space for artists who work in public spaces. “It is important that we are saying to artists that they are important and valued.” Last February, O’Broin began the process of attempting to realise this ideal, introducing a new bill to amend present planning and development regulations. Developed in conjunction with the collective Subset, murals, under the new bill, wouldn’t need council approval to go up. Instead, they would only require the permission from the owner of a building or structure. Presently at the second stage of the Dail, where its general principles are to be debated, O’Broin says, it is unclear if or when the bill may progress. “The best case scenario of the Subset bill is that the government actually decides to go and do its own version of it.” “I’d like to get in through the second stage before the summer recess, which is at the end of July, but we’ve no date, and therefore that can’t be guaranteed.” During the tense, and likely lengthy waiting period however, the usage of public walls to provide social commentary became subject to a heated debate on social media. 18