Panti is fighting ‘tooth and acrylic nail’ to keep the LED Pantibar sign that a Victory Christian Fellowship pastor has objected to

 
A member of the broke Victory Christian Fellowship ‘church’ have objected to the dazzling LED Pantibar sign that was erected last year in the run up to the referendum on same-sex marriage.

The pastor that has taken umbrage at the Pantibar sign is a member of the Victory Christian Fellowship, a church that owes €18m in taxes since it lost its exemption from tax on religious grounds because it allowed businesses to be run from the church including a Starbucks and a restaurant.

Members of this church had been asked to donate ten per cent of their earnings, preaching the philosophy “the more money you give, the more blessings you get”. This allowed church pastors to live an extravagant life with at least thirty homes, expensive cars and helicopters.

The Pantibar sign is being objected to on the grounds that sufficient planning permission had not been obtained when the sign was installed on the side of the Capel Street building in March last year.

Another complainant, Kenneth O’Reilly calls the sign “unsightly” and has noted that the light pollution from the illuminated sign at night time is significant and confounded when it rains: “This is actually magnified when it rains, thus creating further multiple neon reflections upon the we roads”

Dublin City Council does not allow neon signs, however the Pantibar sign is not of the glowing neon variety, rather it is “a traditional backlit sign,” says Panti. The council have refused an application to keep the sign on the grounds that it would “impact adversely on the character and integrity of the area”.

The ‘Queen of Ireland’ took to Facebook to proclaim that she will be “appealing this neanderthal decision, and fighting it tooth and acrylic nail.”

“There is nothing cheap or thoughtless about any of Pantibar’s visual communication. I love good design, I love Capel Street. I love Dublin (and wish it weren’t blighted by cheap signage that adds nothing to the cityscape). And I fucking LOVE our beautiful sign.”

Pantibar posted a photo of the Pantibar sign compared with the view from Pantibar of advertisements across the street, in defence of the visual merchandising. Pantibar’s manager, Shane, said: “View of Pantibar Vs view from Pantibar. And our sign is the problem?!”

Panti will now have the chance to fight her case against the council to keep the sign – let’s hope that the council don’t remove this addition to Dublin’s cityscape. We’ve got your back Panti!