Murpho

Lads,

Will ye ever stop been so quck to criticise and give Ireland some credit.

I don’t believe this article, it is not an item in any of the national papers and as the previous poster stated they wouldn’t announce info unless they were 100% certain.

Just look at what’s happening in Ireland at the moment.

A major road network is being entered, sports facilities are beiing improved, the Luas, Dublin Port Tunnel, a metro is being planned, these are just a few.

After decades of underinvestment, there are major infrastuctural improvements been made,

I live in Holland and I was home last week for a weekend, and I couldn”t get over how Dublin was changing and improving.

New buildings popping up everywhere, new bars restaurants and hotels. O’Connell St regeneration is begun, new bridges over the liffey, boardwalks, a refurbished airport, new motorway to the border, M50 nearing completion , I could go on.

As someone living out of the country for 5 years and coming back I couldn’t believe the amount of stuff that was going on and I felt proud to see that Ireland is finally changing and progressing.

So please stop complaining all the time. Major projects never go without a hitch and the comment about the Dutch government made me laugh. Living in Holland for 5 years now and the country is a mess. Cutbacks everywhere and some of the architecture here would make you squirm.

Is there already a design for this or is it using the original Bertie Bowl plans?

Well judging by the pictures it looks awful (Are those black parts bits of plastic still stuck to it?)

But surely it’s just a case that it needs a clean up and then the pattern will be more visible then. I know the DNA pattern is there as I have seen photo’s of it from during the manufacturing process. It can’t just have dissappeared?

It’s a fact of life when you have large public gatherings that there will be litter left behind.

I really find that sometimes the people on this board are being too harsh.

I was in Dublin for Patrick’s Day in 99 and I was impressed that as soon as the parade was over that the council began the clean-up straight away with a very large cleaning team.

Also, don’t be thinking that the rest of Europe is always better. I now live in Holland and you should see the state of this whole country after New Year’s Eve celebrations.

Finally, of course the Irish can see how O’Connell St has declined over the years but that is hardly surprising considering the economic stagnation in Ireland in the 70’s & 80’s. Any foreigners who I have been to Dublin with have found it a pretty impressive and beautiful street. Also, I am just glad to see the Council are taking positive improvement steps with the Spire being just the beginning. I’m sure that in a few years O’Connell St will be more breathtaking than ever.

Why would a piece of metal stretching over 120 meters into the sky be a relevant tribute to Luke Gardiner?
So by your reckoning it would be ok in a few years the rename the Molly Malone work at the bottom of Grafton St the ‘Mary Harney’ monument. Maybe also they could rename the whole street by replacing the ‘C’ in O Connell with a ‘D’ and turn it into an Irish music theme park?

The fact of the matter is that the Spike was not designed as a tribute to anyone in mind and was simply an architectural work of art.

Just stick with the Spire of Dublin or Monument of light, and all this Brian Boru, Luke Gardiner, Bono, Dustin etc be put to bed.

I mean if you became famous in your city for something would you like to your name to be enshrined by the Spire? Of course not, monumental tributes to people should be in the form of a recognisable statue. painting or picture, not a piece of architecture that was originally designed for other purposes.

Hey what’s happened to this, the star thread of Archiseek?

Anyhow, any activity by the site? Is there work on the plate and paving in progress?

Any news on an official launch (Can’t help thinking of images flying through the sky like a rocket when I write that!)?

Ta very muchly.

My suggestions:

Ballymun Towers
Sherrif Street flats
The Roundabouts with sculpted burnt out car art in Jobstown
The innovative housing in Finglas
Tayto Crisp Factory in Coolock.

That will bring you a new definition of quaintness.

Well I think it would be great.
It really seems that people who were originally against it are now getting behind it now that it is a reality.
It appears that the begrudgers are becoming a cranky minority

Living in Holland I can safely say that the spire has received absolutely zero coverage here (but the country is wrapped up with a general election that is happening today).

Also, had a look at the BBC website and again nothing. If they do cover it they’ll probably place it in their Northern Ireland section!

Maybe, this won’t be picked up internationally until the official launch by Bertie & Co?

I hope something does happen, it would be a shame for a project like this to go unnoticed just because it is in Ireland and not London, New York or Paris etc.

So do you think that the people of Dublin & Ireland have warmed to the Spire now that it is almost in place?

I was at home before Christmas when the first section was installed and a lot of people were quite negative about it but for no real solid reasons, I hope opinions are changing now!