Victory for campaigners as Welsh government scraps plans for 'insulting' Iron Ring sculpture

Today, a joint statement released by the Welsh Government and Flintshire town and county councils, said the plan to build an Iron Ring sculpture at Flint Castle will be scrapped. It is a major victory for campaigners who described the proposed Iron Ring as symbolising a system used to subjugate and oppress the Welsh people. Plaid Cymru's North Wales AM Llyr Gruffydd, had described the sculpture, which celebrated the conquest of Wales by Edward I, as "inappropriate and insulting".

Within days of the plan to build the Iron Ring being announced a petition and numerous individual objections had resulted in the plans being put on hold. The backlash against the project continued to build momentum and now the sculpture will not be built. Flint Castle (Welsh: Castell y Fflint) is located in Flint (Y Fflint) in north-east Wales. It stands on the Dee Estuary (Aber Dyfrdwy) where the River Dee (Afon Dyfrdwy) flows into the sea. Work began on the castle in 1277. It was one of the first of a series of castles built in Wales by the English King Edward I (17/18 June 1239 – 7 July 1307) during his campaign to conquer Wales. They were constructed with the aim of forming an "Iron Ring" used to suppress Welsh resistance.