Bruce Arnold should be ashamed of himself…
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The Irish icons to save – and to raze
http://www.unison.ie/irish_independent/stories.php3?ca=45&si=1472243&issue_id=13023…AND WHAT WE SHOULD SACRIFICE, VOLUNTARILY
1. The Spire is the most vapid piece of memorial sculpture I know. It fully sums up the lowest common denominator of Irish culture, standing for nothing that can be described or recognised. It was a mistake. Let it go.2. Busarus is a notable emblem of the 1950s which has had its run architecturally and should be let pass into history. The same goes for Liberty Hall, another emblem of innocuous architectural oddity having no real place any more.
3. The railway bridge across the River Liffey at Butt Bridge has been a contentious eyesore for much of the last century. It was controversial when first put up. How we get rid of it, or who does the task for us, is not the point, but go it must.
4. The Toll Bridge is another sensible item to identify as a disaster driving a steadily increasing number of people mad each day. Together with the Red Cow Roundabout the two represent cultural denial, and suffocation. Let them go.
How can he class Busaras with the Toll Bridge? Is Busaras’s inclusion due to some ongoing, beyond the grave spat with Michael Scott? The mind boggles how he came up with this list of four. Arnoild probably hasn’t been on a bus in 40 years anyway 😉
He should know a lot better
And he makes the mistake (as many others have done) of calling the Spire a memorial sculpture. It’s not- it’s just a sculpture. To be a memorial, it has to be in memory of something, no?
Though why we’re even dignifying this nonsense with our ire is beyone me. He was a force for good once, but I fear those days have passed based on this evidence- almost as if he rang his mates and asked “What do the plain people of Dublin not like these days?” Is he thinking of running in the local elections or something?
Paul Clerkin wrote:The Irish icons to save – and to raze
http://www.unison.ie/irish_independent/stories.php3?ca=45&si=1472243&issue_id=13023How can he class Busaras with the Toll Bridge? Is Busaras’s inclusion due to some ongoing, beyond the grave spat with Michael Scott? The mind boggles how he came up with this list of four. Arnoild probably hasn’t been on a bus in 40 years anyway ]
busaras and the spire to go…simple question why?.. busaras ahs never looked so well especailly at night when its light up really well….as for the spire i hated the idea… hated it when it was put up but now could not imagine the city without it.
Brucie has certainly lost the plot. His ramblings about the Abbey theatre in The Dubliner and the Indo have been incoherent and off the point. I don’t think he interacts with the real world any more. The attack on Bus Aras was mind boggling, and Hawkins House wasn’t even included on Things That Should Be Sacrificed. It was clearly a quick back-of-the-envelope job
You see this in the papers from time to time; when people who normally write about something else write write about environment or architecture & come across twat-ish. Liam Fay of the Sunday Times would be another example for me.
I think anybody who hasn’t read the full article should hold fire.
What it actually discusses is what the Irish people should try to save in the event of a disaster a la Hurricane Katrina.
And while it’s hard to argue with the save list of: the National Collections, Trinity College, Custom House, Dublin Castle, Newgrange, Hill of Tara, Cashel, Trim, Henrietta Street, Castletown, IMMA, Collins Barracks, and Hugh Lane, he also seems to have a soft spot for the “Garden of Remembrance at Islandbridge”.
It would take a tornado, not a hurricane, for the Garden of Remembrance to end up down there.
But the “sacrifice list” is bizarre. Forget about Busarus and the Loop Line.
As bad as the Westlink bridges are, can you imagine what life in Dublin would be like without them.I’m guessing he means the Lutyens War Memorial at Islandbridge?
I note from the quote Paul chose that the wording is
…AND WHAT WE SHOULD SACRIFICE, VOLUNTARILY
So it’s by choice rather than by force of nature, at least in those cases.
Interesting premise for an article, and questionable use of a tragedy for such ends. How would one ‘save’ Tara (or any other fixed-location entry on the list) from a Katrina-like event? Encase them in concrete a la the Wax Museum? :rolleyes:
And even then his desire to rid us of the West Link(s) is dubious – the original was an elegant piece of design: until its twin came along.
I think he’s just borrowing a move from Myres, chucking in a few contentious points to stir it up.
Not worth bothering about.Abbey theatre he’s having a go at Michael Scott
I think where Brucie got the idea for his article was some coverage in British newspapers of the British government’s plans to draw up a list of buildings protected under the Hague Convention. Basically, you nominate about 50 buildings/monuments of huge importance – in Britain’s case the likes of Stonehenge – and the list is circulated to other signatories of the convention. If there’s a war, they’re not allowed to bomb anything on the list. Serious! Any military commander bombing a building on the list can be done under the Hague Convention for war crimes.
The British short list includes Trinity College Dublin! Ireland isn’t a signatory to the convention, and hence doesn’t have a list, so in theory Newgrange, Trinity, the Custom House etc are all fair game if we get involved in a war.
As I say, this has all been covered in the British newspapers, and prompted Brucie’s inferior follow-up.
were there not similar arrangements in place during World War II with regard to certain cities such as Rome and Paris. I have a feeling that Dresden, Berlin and Stalingrad may have dropped of the list at some point.
there may well have been, PPDL. But the Hague Convention in question was drawn up in 1951. Maybe it was in response to the destruction done in those cities?
I’m not sure why Ireland hasn’t signed up, though
he’s right to some extent –
loop line and liberty hall should go – two horrible structures with nothing going for them in my opinion.
If by toll bridges he’s talking about the eastlink then he’s bang on.
@Sue wrote:
there may well have been, PPDL. But the Hague Convention in question was drawn up in 1951. Maybe it was in response to the destruction done in those cities?
I’m not sure why Ireland hasn’t signed up, though
I remember hearing somewhere that there was somekind of prohibition on bombing Paris and Rome which may be true since they survived largely unscathed by aerial bombardment. I presume other cities such as Venice etc must have been included. Maybe it was just a ‘gentleman’s agreement’ – you don’t bomb my nice cities and I won’t bomb your’s’.
Paul Clerkin wrote:i’ll see your coventry and destory your nuremberg sort of thing ]Indeed. Very much along those lines. It was all very civilized, I am sure.
Trinity’s inclusion on the British long-list is intriguing. The list was produced for the purposes of consultation and debate, and a final list will be published then.
But good to see West Britain being included… 🙂@Sue wrote:
Trinity’s inclusion on the British long-list is intriguing. The list was produced for the purposes of consultation and debate, and a final list will be published then.
But good to see West Britain being included… 🙂Ya – one has to feel sorry for the Brits – history doesn’t seem to be their strong point. I have heard of people having difficulties getting over broken relationships, but this is taking it a bit too far. I really would love to hear their rationalization of this!
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