'Floozie in Jacuzzi' among Dublin History Festival tales

What happened to the so-called 'Floozie in the Jacuzzi' after the infamous statue was decommissioned from O'Connell Street? That is just one of the stories being told as part of the Dublin Festival of History that got under way over the weekend.

Three hundred events exploring the capital's past, are taking place over the next fortnight in what organisers say is the largest free history festival in the world.

One of the many talks recounts the history of the Anna Livia monument, erected on O'Connell Street in 1988 as part of the capital's millennium celebrations.

The statue of a woman reclining in a concrete plinth surrounded by water, was picked without public consultation and was controversial from the start.

An RTÉ News report from the time, by the late Charlie Bird, reports that when its design was revealed one politician described it as "The Tomb to the Unknown Guerrier".