Local celebrity faces liven up ESB boxes in Bandon

FAMOUS faces associated with sport and music from the Bandon area have been popping up lately across ESB boxes in the town giving the streets an added splash of colour.

Sport stars such as soccer player Conor Hourihane, athletics star Phil Healy along with Arctic explorer, Claire O’Leary have had their faces adorned on the boxes by talented local artist, Audrey Cantillon. 

Artist Audrey Cantillon with the print of Claire O'Leary on Weir Street in Bandon.

And it’s not just sport stars that are getting the colourful treatment as local musicians such as Áine Duffy and Declan Sinnott have also been honoured within the past week with their own boxes.

The ‘Bandon Treasures’ project began when Bandon Tidy Towns received Council funding for a project and they in turn approached Creative Bandon to come up with a concept to celebrate some of the area’s local heroes.

Marguerite McQuaid of Creative Bandon said the idea behind the project is that Bandon has quite a lot to shout about. ‘We thought why not celebrate the people from the area that have achieved great things as sometimes people don’t get recognised in their own towns. It’s all about being proud of where you come from and the feedback from people to the makeover of the boxes has been absolutely  positive,’ she said.

‘We were delighted that the ESB gave us permission to use their boxes and Audrey Cantillon has done a fantastic job in transforming them into vibrant boxes. 

Artist, Audrey Cantillon pictured at her print of Phil Healy on South Main Street in Bandon

‘She is quite well known for her ink and water colours and we were delighted that all these people gave us permission to use them.’

Marguerite added that they are also trying to complement the new streetscape that will be put in place along South Main Street as part of the much anticipated Bandon Traffic and Public Realm Enhancement Plan (T-PREP).

‘It’s also about celebrating what makes Bandon unique and different to other towns and it’s great that we now have something of a longer lasting benefit for the town, which is something Creative Bandon are all about.’