Re: Re: Cork Harbour
Possible good news for Cobh:
A new town architect has been appointed and what is more interesting he is Italian and a graduate in architecture from the University of Rome. This is potentially a positive move and may well bring a badly needed more educated approach to matters of planning within the jurisdiction of the Cobh Urban District Council which up to now has been prepared to allow any old rubbish to be scattered acorss its landscape: just think of the awful water tower, the guards Show Boat and the Social Welfare’s Telly-Tubbies outfit!
However, it still remains to be seen as to how much our young Italian friend will be “allowed” to do by the Town Manageress and by that brilliant compliment of public administration that is the town clerk, P. Lynch. Even more interesting will be to see the extent of our Italian friend’s being “allowed” to have anything to do with Cobh Cathedral. Rumour has it that some of the apparachicks in the Cobh Urban Distrct Council have apprehensions about what some one from such a remote place as Italy and from such an unknown university as the Sapienza would know about architecture in general and Cobh Cathedral in particular. Rumour also has it that efforts are being made to keep the “Italian” out of the Cathedral business and to find ways of keeping the former town architect, the super-educated Denis Dease, involved in the Cathedral business. Short of relocating the Cathedral to Mallow it is difficult to see how they can keep the Italian out of it since this is waht he is being paid by the public to do.
Keeping D. Dease’s finger in the pie is an all together interesting move. It will be recalled that D. Dease made sure he was away on holidays when the application to wreck the Cathedral was made by the Cathedral Trustees in July 2005. Indeed, D. Dease has an awful habit of taking holidays. He must be one of the most holidayed local government employees in the country. D. Dease was also of the opinion that it was not of any significance that a couple of hooligans should go into the Cathedral and dig holes in the floor in the middle of the night without any permission. Then, of course, there is the question of what he knows about Pugin, Ashlin, Dideron, Viollet-le-Duc and the gothic revival in general. To that we can answer blank nothing! So why the urgency to keep out the possibly better educated Italian and and keep in theclearly useless but well holidayed Dease? Is the town clerk or the manageress thinking of building another water-tower outside the front door of the Cathedral?
