Cork man gets social welfare logo tattooed on his face

Tattoo apprentice Paraic Keane was keen to make a statement with his first face ink and settled on the iconic bird and hand symbol of the Department of Social Protection.

The design is proudly displayed on Paraic’s left cheek for all to marvel at.

He told CorkBeo that he got the tattoo “because it’s funny” and doesn’t care what people think of it.

And although he’s not currently receiving social welfare payments - working a city centre restaurant while he completes his tattoo apprenticeship at Dark Arts Studio - he really wanted a “statement piece” as his first face ink.

“I've been wanting it for a while now and I kept being told to wait a few weeks to think and make sure I was still down to get it done,” Paraic said.

“I've got a few tattoos, but this is my first face tattoo.”

He said that he plans to get another famous logo marked on his face to match the Social Welfare stamp.

"Maybe the SuperValu logo, oh no wait, the Lidl logo, that'd be funny."