April Fool’s Rio gag
‘RIO’ CROSS FOR BRAY HEAD SPARKS FURY
THE WICKLOW public was tricked yesterday morning by an April Fool gag engineered by the team at East Coast FM.
The morning news bulletins read out by Gareth Farrell included a report that the Cross on Bray Head would be replaced by a replica of the Christ the Redeemer statue.
This was to be part of a planned twinning of Bray and the city of Rio De Janeiro, as the statue overlooks the Brazilian city.
‘ The original statue is 30 metres tall and stands on an eight-metre high pedestal,’ said the news reader. ‘However the proposed replica for Bray would be half that height. However, there are some concerns about what to do with the cross on Bray Head, which was erected there in 1950. One suggestion is to relocate the cross to the top of the Sugarloaf, further details are expected to be released later today.’
The text lines in-studio lit up with Declan Meehan on the Morning Show saying people were furious at this expenditure by Bray Town Council.
Angry listeners said that this was a waste of money. ‘ What about footpaths and lights?’ they said. ‘ What about houses that are vacant? Councillors out!’
Cllr. Mick Glynn went on air to go along with the pranks. He told Declan that the officials were over in Rio for St. Patrick’s Day and they put together a twinning plan with the city.
‘ The cross has served us well and is a landmark in Bray. We could move it to the Sugarloaf or somewhere similar,’ said Cllr. Glynn.
‘Logistically to get it up the hill would be quite expensive and very difficult. You couldn’t get transport up there so it would have to be moved up by hand. The next step was to get it lit. Get power lines up there and get lights on it. We could turn it green for St. Patrick’s or red and white at Christmas.’
He added that this would be a huge project involving trips for public representatives to the whole South American region.