{"id":428500,"date":"2026-05-15T05:57:09","date_gmt":"2026-05-15T05:57:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/428500\/"},"modified":"2026-05-15T05:57:09","modified_gmt":"2026-05-15T05:57:09","slug":"socks-will-be-back-on-his-feet-work-underway-to-repair-statue-of-louth-boxing-legend","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/428500\/","title":{"rendered":"\u2018Socks will be back on his feet\u2019 \u2013 Work underway to repair statue of Louth boxing legend"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><img decoding=\"async\" alt=\"Sculpture of Socks Byrne, where concerns have been raised over visible damage and cracks to the popular landmark.\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/15c2689f-b46c-4f1c-afec-89c20c4efd4f.jpg\" loading=\"eager\" width=\"100%\" data-testid=\"article-image\"  \/><\/p>\n<p class=\"indo-ebe0ecc6_root indo-ebe0ecc6_caption1 indo-300db776_none indo-91174671_secondary indo-66f0fec7_regular indo-1d70522a_marginbottom0 indo-1d70522a_marginleft0 indo-1d70522a_marginright0 indo-1d70522a_margintop3 indo-b48c4984_left\" style=\"color:var(--color-grey-60)\">Sculpture of Socks Byrne, where concerns have been raised over visible damage and cracks to the popular landmark.<\/p>\n<p class=\"indo-ebe0ecc6_root indo-ebe0ecc6_paragraph indo-300db776_none indo-91174671_primary indo-1d70522a_marginbottom0 indo-1d70522a_margintop0 indo-b48c4984_inherit\" style=\"color:var(--color-primary-80)\">Louth County Council has confirmed it is progressing plans to repair the much-loved statue of Olympic boxer Tony \u201cSocks\u201d Byrne at Scotch Hall, following reports of structural damage to the popular landmark.<\/p>\n<p class=\"indo-ebe0ecc6_root indo-ebe0ecc6_paragraph indo-300db776_none indo-91174671_primary indo-1d70522a_marginbottom5 indo-1d70522a_margintop0 indo-b48c4984_inherit\" style=\"color:var(--color-primary-80)\">Concerns about the condition of the sculpture were raised at the latest meeting of Drogheda Borough District by Cllr. Debbie McCole, who said she had contacted the local authority after noticing visible cracks around the feet of the statue.<\/p>\n<p class=\"indo-ebe0ecc6_root indo-ebe0ecc6_paragraph indo-300db776_none indo-91174671_primary indo-1d70522a_marginbottom5 indo-1d70522a_margintop0 indo-b48c4984_inherit\" style=\"color:var(--color-primary-80)\">According to Cllr. McCole, the damage is believed to have occurred in April. While temporary safety barriers were installed around the sculpture, she told the meeting that their continued presence has become a matter of local concern.<\/p>\n<p class=\"indo-ebe0ecc6_root indo-ebe0ecc6_paragraph indo-300db776_none indo-91174671_primary indo-1d70522a_marginbottom5 indo-1d70522a_margintop0 indo-b48c4984_inherit\" style=\"color:var(--color-primary-80)\">\u201cIt is a little bit unsightly,\u201d she said, noting that the railings have now been in place for several weeks. She asked council officials for a timeline on when restoration work might be completed.<\/p>\n<p class=\"indo-ebe0ecc6_root indo-ebe0ecc6_paragraph indo-300db776_none indo-91174671_primary indo-1d70522a_marginbottom5 indo-1d70522a_margintop0 indo-b48c4984_inherit\" style=\"color:var(--color-primary-80)\">In response, Senior Executive Engineer Irene Mc Gahon confirmed that the council has already engaged contractors to carry out an assessment of the statue. <\/p>\n<p class=\"indo-ebe0ecc6_root indo-ebe0ecc6_paragraph indo-300db776_none indo-91174671_primary indo-1d70522a_marginbottom5 indo-1d70522a_margintop0 indo-b48c4984_inherit\" style=\"color:var(--color-primary-80)\">Ms Mc Gahon said the process has been complicated by efforts to identify who originally commissioned the statue, as there may be a need \u201cfor more specialist input,\u201d she explained, particularly in ensuring that any repairs match the existing materials and securing the sculpture safely in place for the long term.<\/p>\n<p class=\"indo-ebe0ecc6_root indo-ebe0ecc6_paragraph indo-300db776_none indo-91174671_primary indo-1d70522a_marginbottom5 indo-1d70522a_margintop0 indo-b48c4984_inherit\" style=\"color:var(--color-primary-80)\">The statue commemorates the late Tony \u201cSocks\u201d Byrne, one of Drogheda\u2019s most celebrated sporting figures. Byrne won a lightweight bronze medal at the 1956 Melbourne Olympic Games, bringing international recognition to his hometown. <\/p>\n<p class=\"indo-ebe0ecc6_root indo-ebe0ecc6_paragraph indo-300db776_none indo-91174671_primary indo-1d70522a_marginbottom5 indo-1d70522a_margintop0 indo-b48c4984_inherit\" style=\"color:var(--color-primary-80)\">Speaking after the meeting, Cllr. McCole welcomed the council\u2019s commitment to resolving the issue and restoring the monument to its former condition.<\/p>\n<p class=\"indo-ebe0ecc6_root indo-ebe0ecc6_paragraph indo-300db776_none indo-91174671_primary indo-1d70522a_marginbottom5 indo-1d70522a_margintop0 indo-b48c4984_inherit\" style=\"color:var(--color-primary-80)\">\u201cI\u2019m delighted that Louth County Council are working to repair the much-loved statue,\u201d she said. \u201cThe work involves matching the material the sculpture is made of to the material used for repair.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"indo-ebe0ecc6_root indo-ebe0ecc6_paragraph indo-300db776_none indo-91174671_primary indo-1d70522a_marginbottom5 indo-1d70522a_margintop0 indo-b48c4984_inherit\" style=\"color:var(--color-primary-80)\">\u201cAnd then Socks will be back on his feet.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"indo-ebe0ecc6_root indo-ebe0ecc6_paragraph indo-300db776_none indo-91174671_primary indo-1d70522a_marginbottom5 indo-1d70522a_margintop0 indo-b48c4984_inherit\" style=\"color:var(--color-primary-80)\">Funded by the Local Democracy Reporting Scheme<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Sculpture of Socks Byrne, where concerns have been raised over visible damage and cracks to the popular landmark.&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":428501,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[31],"tags":[442,498,499,500,501,156,111,139,69,219619],"class_list":["post-428500","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-arts-and-design","tag-arts","tag-arts-and-design","tag-artsanddesign","tag-artsdesign","tag-design","tag-entertainment","tag-new-zealand","tag-newzealand","tag-nz","tag-olivia-ryan"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/428500","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=428500"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/428500\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/428501"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=428500"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=428500"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=428500"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}