Douglas Council paid £170,000 for the statue of the Bee Gees.

The cost of the statue, unveiled in the land of their birth on Thursday, came in for comment from iomtoday.co.im readers.

Council leader David Christian said: ‘The cost was £170,000, which was met by the council out of capital receipts, namely part of the money the council received from the sale of the horse tram stables at Strathallan.

'As the horse tram stables were on the promenade, it was considered appropriate that the council direct a proportion of the sale proceeds into contributing further to the redevelopment and new look of Douglas promenade.’

The Gibb brothers were born in the Isle of Man and went on to become international superstars.

Now visitors to Loch Promenade in Douglas will see a likeness of them in bronze.

Barry, Maurice and Robin Gibb are captured by artist and sculptor Andy Edward walking back into Douglas, where they were born.

The base is the shape of a record with the lyrics of Ellan Vannin inscribed to the front in Manx and to the rear in English, the Bee Gees having recorded a charity single version in the late 1990s in aid of Manx charities.

At the unveiling ceremony on Thursday council members and guests, among whom was Mr Edwards, heard Mayor Jon Joughin say that the brothers had always taken every opportunity to speak with ’deep affection and pride’ of their Manx roots.

He continued: ’With their international profile and rock-star status the Bee Gees could not have been better ambassadors for the Isle of Man.

’Their recording of Ellan Vannin helped to raise thousands of pounds for Manx charities and, even now, following the sad passing of Robin and Maurice, Barry continues to raise awareness of the Isle of Man to audiences around the world.’

They were awarded the Isle of Man Newspapers Lifetime Achievement Award in 2008. For the occasion, Robin Gibb visited the island and sang Ellan Vannin, a song that the brothers sang in several concerts over the years.

He opened the Rebecca House children’s hospice while he was here.

In August 2008, the council conferred the Honorary Freedom of the Borough of Douglas on Barry, Robin and the late Maurice Gibb. In 2013, the first commemorative blue plaque to be erected by the council at 50 St Catherine’s Drive, Douglas, the Bee Gees’ childhood home.

Council leader David Christian said: ’Douglas played an important part in the early years of the Gibb brothers who lived in our town with their late father Hugh and mother Barbara.

’It’s interesting to note that Hugh Gibb had been a drummer and bandleader who, like his sons, played to packed houses, albeit in Douglas.

’Later the family moved to Manchester before emigrating to Australia, but no matter where they lived and no matter the level of success they went on to achieve, the brothers’ abiding love for Douglas and the Isle of Man endured.

’The statues of the Bee Gees stand proudly at a major gateway to the island’s capital and has been installed at a time of renaissance for Douglas promenade.

’It will become a landmark for the people of Douglas, the Isle of Man and beyond our shores to visit and enjoy for generations to come.’

Describing the statues Mr Edwards said: ’The title on the stone base is simply The Bee Gees (born here).

’They are depicted in the swagger of the 1977 video for Stayin’ Alive.

’The song went to number one in the States and became one of six consecutive number one hits for the brothers, equalling The Beatles’ record.

’The statues stand at 2.2m tall - about one fifth bigger in scale than life-size and stand on a base 2.5m in diameter.

’It’s hard to calculate how many hours the work took to create, as in every other artistic pursuit, a labour of love like this is virtually impossible to stop ourselves continually working on, adjusting and fine tuning, but 12 highly skilled foundry people - moulders, casters and metalworkers in addition to me the sculptor - have devoted themselves, totalling over 2,000 hours of work.’