Leinster House, National Museum & Library complex

[fergalr]

It was installed after the recent protests. Cowen's taking no chances. Wait till you see the Mini-Budget next year. They're selling Donegal to the Brits.

[PTB]

I was there in the state buildings during Open House weekend and we were told that the heilpad was buit for Haughey and his inflated ego. Theres a direct passage from his office to the roof. Apparently no other Taoiseach has used it.

But some day perhaps, when a rabble with burning torches storm the gates of power...

[notjim]

Well Bertie was afraid of helicopters, he admitted it once noting that all three helicopters he had traveled in had subsequently crashed and in a typical Bertism said from now on he would under no circumstances travel in a helicopter unless he had to. Of course, you might argue with his interpretation of the statistics and suggest that helicopters should be afraid of him.

[dc3]

Apparently no other Taoiseach has used it.
...

Indeed they have, the last one I personally recall was another midlands Taoiseach. The helipad is now out of use, indeed it was always a bit awkward, given the wind vortexes around Agriculture Houses, and a very good challenge to the Air Corps pilots operating in and out.

[Rory W]

Why have I got the image of the American Embassy during the fall of South Vietnam in my mind

[lostexpectation]

Revealed: how Dail burns cash
A report on Government Buildings’ energy usage has revealed vast sums are being spent on excess heating and lighting
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/ireland/article5489624.ece

i presume there haven't been previous annoucements of a government builldings dail energy efficiency drive.

[nneligan]

I would quite like to see a building like this on Leinster Lawn (maybe without the high rotunda, and Leinster House restored to its original.

I would love to see the Bank of Ireland restored with the 'sunken cabbage' rebuilt

[fergalr]

Well we'd be going weirdly full circle if we built a pastiche of the U.S Capitol on Leinster Lawn, seeing as the original U.S House of Representatives chamber within it is modelled on our old House of Commons.

What would the point of restoring the original layout etc of the Old Parliament Building exactly?

[kinsella]

The image above looks like the plan for a much more eloborate Stormont.............then the funds ran out. Forgetting about the merits of such a building, I just can't for the life of me imagine why some think it is a good or possible idea to build a Parliament house on Leinster lawn. There simply isn't the space to accommodate such a building on the lawn and if one were built, the result would leave the complex a cluttered mess.

[nneligan]

Well we'd be going weirdly full circle if we built a pastiche of the U.S Capitol on Leinster Lawn, seeing as the original U.S House of Representatives chamber within it is modelled on our old House of Commons.

What would the point of restoring the original layout etc of the Old Parliament Building exactly?

Pastiche argument aside, I have commented on this before in historically sensitive areas I believe you should in general terms keep with the theme of the area. As I said before I particularly admire what is done in Germany where old buildings are rebuilt, and new ones (Pastiche if you prefer) are built that fit in. I have a fondness for restoring old buildings, and would like to see the Bank of Ireland restored to its original, alternatively you could add a twist by restoring the dome like they did in the Reichstag with the glass windows.



Yes, there is a certain amount of truth in the original House of Representatives being modeled on our old House of Commons.

[missarchi]

Oireachtas car park must go, says OPW...

http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/ireland/2009/0126/1232474680368.html

[Global Citizen]

Well we'd be going weirdly full circle if we built a pastiche of the U.S Capitol on Leinster Lawn, seeing as the original U.S House of Representatives chamber within it is modelled on our old House of Commons.

Really ??
I never knew this. How true is it ?

[asmodeus]

Well for comparison's sake, this is the old house of Representatives in Washington


[ATTACH]9463[/ATTACH]

[ATTACH]9464[/ATTACH]

This old House of Commons is below, courtesy of wikipedia:





I don't see a huge resemblance, part of what made the House of Commons remarkable was it's octagonal shape. Take that away and you're left with some neo-classical features that could be found anywhere, except the balcony maybe.

[gunter]

Those merged double columns at the corners didn't really work did they?

[johnglas]

asmodeus: why does everyone in Ireland have this self-effacing death-wish? You make Liverpudlians sound optimistic. Take away the... What a daft argument.

[Global Citizen]

I have to agree with both Asmodeus and Gunter here. The resemblance is very tenuous and those slimline double columns look very scattered, (although this could have a lot to do with the artist trying to cram so much action into one image).

As for johnglas.
Having a go at the sensitivities of Liverpudlians on the twentieth anniversary of the Hillsborough tragedy is a stroke that the tabloids would relish.
I look forward to reading your first column in THE SUN.

[johnglas]

Global Citizen (or not): I think my post was sent before the anniversary and was not meant to be literal or serious - but there is a streak of the most awful self-abasement (not to mention a humour by-pass) running through many posts. Whisper it, you're not a colony any more - you don't have to 'prove' yourselves to anybody.

[PS I've never read The Sun - have you?]

[GrahamH]

Would it be the case that Pearse employed proper double columns, while Wheatley in the first image just dodgily depicted them as semi-engaged? I'd use the term 'in intercourse' either, but it seems inappropriate.

Otherwise, the theatre of that great room must have been breathtaking, and that's just by modern standards, never mind its impact in a primitive post-medieval city. The exterior forecourt still gives us some taste of the drama, but characteristically, McParland describes it best:

"Its lights and its shadows are those of Rome and Vicenza. Its detail is impeccable, in disposition and execution as well as in its restraint. The scale, a little deceptive from afar, is grand (see how Pearce guaged the depth of the arches) and affirmative when walks between colonnade and wall. It is alive with movement: the simple E-shaped arrangement of columns generates, as one moves, great richment of parallax, and of void and solid. The classical associations of the great stoa are powerful, symbolically and emotionally. This is architecture as 'brilliant, informed, and exact interplayof masses brought together in light'. It is architecture as teatra. It is a rare moment in Irish, indeed in European, architecture."

[Global Citizen]

Global Citizen (or not): I think my post was sent before the anniversary and was not meant to be literal or serious - but there is a streak of the most awful self-abasement (not to mention a humour by-pass) running through many posts. Whisper it, you're not a colony any more - you don't have to 'prove' yourselves to anybody.

[PS I've never read The Sun - have you?]

Wasn't trying to start a row.
I was in bould form the other day when I posted my response.
I'm a Liverpool fan so you can understand why.

Fuk The Sun.

Anyway, getting back on topic -
I agree with Graham'
"The theatre of that great room must have been breathtaking"

[johnglas]

Global Citizen: Nor me - agreed!

[Pot Noodle]

Ww have 2 many TDS

[Global Citizen]

Ww have 2 many TDS

Thats a different can of worms Pot Noodle.
(Sorry lads;)), I couldn't resist the connection.


Unless you are suggesting that fewer TD's trampling around the hallowed corridors of Leinster House would prolong the lifespan of the building.

Doubtful.

[rumpelstiltskin]

How about we cut off all their heads, and mount them on spikes on leinster lawn. We could turn the building into a museum of corruption.

[fergalr]

One of ushers told me a few months ago that ideally they should move to Phoenix Park and use Leinster House for general civic activities... but Leinster House 2000 cemented them on the campus.

[Global Citizen]

Leave them where they are.
It would cost tens of millions to re-house them in the park.
Millions have already been spent to accommodate them in their current location.
Do we really want a repeat of the goings on in Edinburgh ?