Plans to erect a statue to celebrate guitar legend Gary Moore have been given the go-ahead just weeks after a similar tribute to Rory Gallagher was unveiled.
A proposal by Belfast Green Party councillor Brian Smyth, on behalf of the Wild Frontier Memorial Project, was approved at a City Hall committee meeting.
Earlier this month, a statue to Donegal-born Rory Gallagher was unveiled beside the Ulster Hall on Bedford Street.
Gallagher grew up in Derry and Cork, but was closely associated with Belfast and regularly played gigs in the city in the 1970s and 1980s when other acts stayed clear of the city due to the Troubles.
Gary Moore befriended Gallagher in Belfast as a teenager in the late 1960s before both hit the big time, and the two would often play the same venues on the same dates.
Moore, who died in 2011, was an acclaimed Irish rock guitarist, singer songwriter, who was raised by his mother and music promoter father in the Ballymiscaw area beside the Stormont estate in east Belfast.
Moore was celebrated for his guitar skills, particularly in the field of rock blues and metal. He had a remarkable solo career, with collaborations such as BB King, Albert King, Phil Lynott and George Harrison, and was also an influential member of Thin Lizzy.
At the January meeting of the council’s City Growth and Regeneration Committee, Mr Smyth said Moore was “probably the greatest guitarist to come out of Belfast”.
“Over the last couple of years, I have been in touch with and gotten to know the Wild Frontier Memorial Project who are campaigning for a statue for Gary Moore in the city was born in,” he said.
“They seek to celebrate Moore’s contribution to blues and rock, inspire future generations of musicians, encourage tourism into Gary’s native city, and celebrate one of Belfast’s most remarkable talents, who is admired around the world.
“If a statue of him was to become a reality, it would be similar to the Rory Gallagher one, and would be privately funded.”
The Wild Frontier Memorial Project has expressed an interest in the potential statue being placed in the Cathedral Quarter.
Mr Smyth asked for officers to carry out a land check in the Cathedral Quarter of council land that could be used as a potential site.