Barrett labels councils refusal on Tony Ryan statue a disgrace

A proposal to have a life sized statue of former GPA founder Tony Ryan, erected in his home town of Thurles seems to have fallen by the wayside with a lack of appetite for the project on the part of Tipperary County Council being blamed.

The idea was to recognise a famous son of the Cathedral Town - many other towns have recognised their most famous individual such as – Joe Dolan (Mullingar), Paidi O Shea (Kerry), Vincent O' Brien (Rosegreen), Frank Patterson (Clonmel), in Galway they erected a statue to grand national horse Bobby Jo – for instance.

This project had the support of many groups in Thurles who wrote letters of support endorsing a statue of Tony in Thurles such as – Thurles Credit Union, Barnardos, Thurles Lions Club, Thurles Chamber of Commerce, Thurles Parish Council, Dew Valley, Hayes Hotel and MIC Thurles.

Tony’s son Shane and former PA Gerry Power visited Thurles on January 25 at the invitation of local activist Tommy Barrett and met with Council officials. The Tipperary Star understands that it was made very clear to the Ryans that the council could not commit a space in Liberty Square for the statue, even though the family is willing to pay all the costs involved and donate to a local charity in the process.

Tommy Barrett said this week: “Tipp County Council were not being asked for a penny, just a location in Liberty Square. I felt that we in Thurles should be opening doors to the Ryans, not closing them on their faces- they have been very good to Thurles over the years for example by:

- Donating substantial sums to Thurles Barnardos.- Contributing the Tony Ryan Fund of over 1.8 million to Tipperary.

- Tony and his family have donated thousands to C.B.S Thurles over the years with the most recent donation being in 2016.

- Declan Ryan in 2016 contributed to the LIT entrepreneurial fund.”

Some of Tony Ryan’s other contributions include: setting up Tipperary Trading Company to encourage industrial development and tourism in Tipperary; Restoration of Bolton Library in Cashel; Restoration of Damer House in Roscrea; and he was Chairman of the Committee formed to establish Hunt Museum in Limerick.

“Tony is a true example of what it is to be an entrepreneur- that is to have a capacity to take risks, be innovative and to keep on going through adversity. This was really highlighted when Tony went bankrupt when GPA failed on the markets but he worked hard to make Ryanair a success. In the words of Garrett Fitzgerald 'it was Tony Ryan who showed us how to transcend Ireland's geographical isolation.'

“It is very true that Tony’s two companies transformed international aviation. Ryanair opened up the world for those less privileged to travel worldwide through their low fares ethos. Tony had great entrepreneurial flair. In fact, eventhough GPA failed, Tony deserves a lot of credit for the fact that Ireland is considered the aircraft leasing capital of the world.

“Tony's story has so many lessons that we can all learn from - when GPA went broke the easiest thing to do would be to give up, but Tony never did that he came again , bigger and better with Ryanair which really highlighted the type of man he was,” Tommy Barrett said.

He added that over more than 30 years, Tony Ryan built up two businesses that transformed international aviation. Even the one that eventually failed created a new leasing industry that superseded GPA itself in importance. The company's legacy is that Ireland remains the centre for half the world's aircraft leasing and finance business.

In the words of Mark Fielding - 'Who would have taught that a railway man’s son from Thurles would dwarf the national airline Aer Lingus.'

“ The Tony Ryan story of somebody who scaled new heights acts as an inspiration to young Thurles people and gives youngsters something to aspire to and to follow their dreams and to keep going through adversity.

“Tony is regarded as one of the greatest Irish men of the 20th Century and I personally think it is a disgrace that we have not remembered him in Thurles,” Tommy Barrett said.

Tipperary County Council has consistently said that it would be very difficult to single out one individual for such attention in the town centre. And, plans have already been drawn up for the Liberty Square redevelopment with no location cited for any such statues apart from the ones already situated in Liberty Square.

Proposals to position a statue of Tony Ryan in other locations around the town were met with a lukewarm from those interested in financing the project.