New worries over funding for monument dedicated to Derry's shirt factory workers

A government department has refused to say whether funding is still available for a monument dedicated to the city shirt factory workers 11 years after work began on the project. The Dublin based artist Louise Walsh was awarded the commission to create a sculpture, a large sewing machine wheel, by the former Department for Social Development (DSD) in January 2006. The original budget for the project was £90,000 to £100,000, and was to be located at King Street in the Waterside. That was then changed to Harbour Square at the rear of the Guildhall due to planning problems. Planning permission has yet to be granted for the project. A planning application has been lodged with the local planning authority, Derry City and Strabane District Council, but it has yet to come before its Planning Committee for discussion. It emerged in 2015 that the cost of the project had rocketed to £865,000 (excluding VAT). The figure was contained in a council report which stated that the cost of completing the sculpture was approximately £153,000, with the cost of constructing the public realm works at Harbour Square needed for the sculpture now at approximately £712,000. The Derry News contacted the Department for Communities (DfC) formerly the DSD, to ask whether the funding for the project was still available, and how much would be coming from the DfC. A spokesperson for the DfC responded: “To date the Department has awarded £85k to the Artist and £25k to Derry City and Strabane District Council to develop the Factory Girls project and associated public realm works. “The Department is committed to working with the artist and council to ‎deliver the project and provide a lasting legacy to the city's shirt factory workers.” However, the artist Louise Walsh told the Derry News that the £85,000 has already been spent on the project up to 2005, which included the construction of an eight fool steel sewing machine wheel which is currently lying in a council yard. “I’m not sure what’s going on here,” Louise said, “and whether any funding has been set aside, because we still haven’t got planning permission.” “The council voted unanimously to lodge the planning application at a meeting in December 2015, but it still hasn’t come before them.” A spokesperson for Derry City and Strabane District Council said that the planning application is expected to come before its Planning Committee in the ‘near future’, and that a completion date for the project would partly depend on what funding was available. “Funding for the ‘Shirt Factory Sculpture’ to date has been from the Department for Communities,” the spokesperson said. “Council’s Planning Department have confirmed that the planning application for the sculpture is still under consideration and is expected to be presented to the Planning Committee in the near future. “Completion dates for the project will be determined in part by available funding and the decision made by the Planning Committee when presented.”