A statue of Donegal rock and blues legend Rory Gallagher is to be unveiled in Belfast today.
The statue of the iconic Ballyshannon-born musician will be unveiled outside the Ulster Hall.
It will be located outside the Bedford Street venue where Gallagher played regularly throughout the Troubles in Northern Ireland.
Ballyshannon is already the setting for a famous statue of the famous guitar maestro.
Barry McGivern, of the Rory Gallagher Statue Project Trust, said it was a “fitting tribute”.
“Rory came up to Belfast in 1967 and it was a vibrant music scene,” McGivern told BBC News NI.
“In Belfast, with Taste, he would have played with John Wilson and Richard McCracken [from Northern Ireland], they were a power trio and that helped to give him his wings, and the people of Belfast allowed him to flourish.
“When he played the Maritime in Belfast, there were queues the whole way round the block to the New Vic.
“Rory also lived in a guest house in Cromwell Road off Botanic Avenue.
“He would have played various venues in Belfast as well as the Maritime, including the Ulster Hall, Queen’s University, the Grosvenor Hall, Sammy Houston’s Jazz club, Romano’s, and the Pound.”
The statue is inspired by a January 1972 Melody Maker magazine cover image of Gallagher onstage at the Ulster Hall and was created by Anto Brennan, Jessica Checkley and David O’Brien of Bronze Art Ireland.
