Plans for a statue of legendary Northern Ireland goalkeeper Pat Jennings to be erected in his home town have received cross community support.
Newry councillor, Michael Savage (SDLP) put forward the motion at Monday night’s full council meeting with praise for the Northern Ireland goalkeeper’s non-sectarian legacy.
“I would like to acknowledge that this motion has been seconded by Cllr David Taylor (UUP) demonstrating the cross community support in this matter,” said Cllr Savage.
Despite the bipartisan nature of the motion, it is not yet known if any statue of Pat Jennings’ would see him wearing the colours of Arsenal, Spurs or even Northern Ireland as football fans began making their preferences known on social media.
The cost to commission a statue could run in to the tens fo thousands of pounds.
The new motion tabled at the Newry Mourne and Down District Council (NMDDC) has called for direct engagement with ‘The Friends of Big Pat Group’ without prejudice to make moves to erect a statue in his home town of Newry.
This is the second similar statue drive in the border city since the Willie Maley Memorial Group set out to raise £60k to bring about a statue of the Newry born Celtic manager after council money could not be drawn down for a sculpture tribute to be made.
Currently playing fields adjacent to Newry Leisure Centre are named in tribute of Pat Jennings with local Carnbane league football played on the pitches each week.
The new push for a statue could now witness Newry attracting soccer tourism from around the globe for both sons of the city, Jennings and Maley.
“A statue would be in recognition of Pat Jennings’ outstanding contribution to sport, charity, and reconciliation,” added Cllr Savage.
“The commissioning of a statue to be located in his native Newry would be to honour his achievements on and off the pitch and in recognition of the high esteem in which he is held in his home city and district and across the world,” added the councillor.
The motion was deferred to the equality and good relations forum for further discussions with the matter due to come back to the council for a decision in the coming weeks.