This is another article that I’m rescuing from the cache of old CraicOn articles I have found.
White Wall
Marian MCDonald came round my door and told me that there was going to be a meeting about the White Wall at the White Wall in an hour’s time.
This was to be at one o’clock.
I told her I’d try to make it but that I had a plane to catch in Derry soon after 4 o’clock to go to my mother’s 80th birthday party in Greenock the next day.
I had a lot of stuff to do but I really wanted to go to the meeting.
More Than a Wall
The White Wall is more than just a white wall.
Everybody in Moville has some kind of memories of it.
Go Late
I decide that I would go 15 minutes late as nothing in Moville seems to start in time.
As it turns out I could have waited much longer as the guy from the particular Council department wasn’t there and needed to be called (it seems he thought it was at 2 o’clock).
Anyway, when he got there the meeting started.
Three Solutions
He said that there were three solutions.
1. The wall could be thrown up any way that they can but that it might not look exactly like the last wall and people might complain about it
2. They could get a proper job done to restore it as it was before it fell down
3. As the consensus was that it was tree roots that brought it down, the owner of the land could be persuaded to pay for it either by persuasion or legal action
Difficult
At first it was option 2 that seemed to be the option being put forward.
It was agreed that Option 3 would be difficult and it would be very difficult to prove that it was tree roots that brought it down and not vandals or a bad build of the wall.
After all there were no witnesses to prove that the tree roots had done it and it would be extremely difficult to extract a confession.
I’m sure that if you brought in top tree surgeons and other experts it could be possible to prove that it was the tree roots wot dun it.
However, as you are probably working out, the White Wall would not be going up any time soon.
Option 2
So, it was option 2 that was the main point of discussion.
However, it was becoming clear that, although eventually there might be a new white wall erected in the future that looked very like the original one, this was not likely to happen very soon.
They would have to do surveys as to why the White Wall was special to the people of Moville amongst other things and the man from the Council said that there might be only three or four craftsmen in Ireland who might be able to restore it properly.
Major Work
It was looking more and more that this was becoming a major restoration work.
It would be like doing an immense jigsaw puzzle except with massive stones.
I don’t think that it is the beauty or the architecture of the White Wall that makes it so important to the people of Moville.
It is just where it is, that it is a landmark that can be seen from far away, that it is the delimiter of Bath Green gifted to the people of Moville and that it holds so many fond memories for people here.
Same Thoughts
I think that everyone was simutaneously coming to the same conclusion.
Just get the bloody wall up again.
It didn’t matter too much if it looked exactly the same.
Once the white paint went on it would be hard to tell the difference.
It might even be nice to have one that was a little different.
Problem
The only fly in the ointment was that the same thing might happen again if they put it back up, i.e. that tree roots could bring it crashing down again.
And this time there might be people around and the Council might have liability.
However, it was decided that it would be a good idea if there was a gap at the bottom of the wall and a beam put across to stop this happening.
That, we agreed, was the best solution.
Get a Price
The man from the Council said that he would go away and get a price for that.
All the stones are still there so the plan would mean just sticking it back up as best they can with a beam and a gap at the bottom and then painting it white.
So, we wait to see what the cost will be and for it to go through the Council process.
It looks like it is much closer to getting done now.
It looks like the White Wall will be back.