Nameing the Spire after Mandela

EyeSight

DCC are thinking of renaming the spire after Mendela. One reason is it is close to the Dunnes that boycotted SA fruit in protest.

I am all for supporting the man but not like this. There should be enough Irish revolutionary's for that. Lame idea

http://www.rte.ie/ten/news/2014/0115/497950-nelson-pillar/

Newaglish

I think it's a terrible idea. Really tacky.

TheGodfather1

Newaglish wrote: »

I think it's a terrible idea. Really tacky.

I agree we have enough of our own heroes.

billie1b

Ridiculous idea

Richard Hillman

Just leave it as it is.

r3nu4l

Awful, awful idea. I'd rather not see it named after any revolutionary. I'm not even sure it has to be named after an individual.

Stop wasting time (and therefore money) and leave it as is.

hardCopy

Other famous Nelson's we could name it after:

Judd Nelson
Willie Nelson
Nelson Muntz
Nelson Piquet
Gunnar Nelson

Lovely Bloke

hardCopy wrote: »

Other famous Nelson's we could name it after:

Judd Nelson
Willie Nelson
Nelson Muntz
Nelson Piquet
Gunnar Nelson

Lord Nelson

:pac:

bazza1

Crap idea so we will probably do it! Bono will push for it!

loyatemu

wasn't the block of flats in "Only Fools and Horses" named "Nelson Mandela House"?

its a terrible idea& the Dunnes Stores link is tenuous. Whatever you think of Mandela he had no particular connection to Dublin, or tall spiky objects in general.

heartofarebel

Have they a fear of naming something after our own '16 people. With the centenary of the rising coming up why not after Pearse?

ThisRegard

heartofarebel wrote: »

Have they a fear of naming something after our own '16 people. With the centenary of the rising coming up why not after Pearse?

Plenty of flats named after him already.

Leave it be, it's a ridiculous idea.

loyatemu

ThisRegard wrote: »

Plenty of flats named after him already.
.

and a street and a railway station.

syklops

EyeSight wrote: »

DCC are thinking of renaming the spire after Mendela. One reason is it is close to the Dunnes that boycotted SA fruit in protest.

I am all for supporting the man but not like this. There should be enough Irish revolutionary's for that. Lame idea

http://www.rte.ie/ten/news/2014/0115/497950-nelson-pillar/

I think it's a terrible idea. Really tacky.

Speaking of tacky, the link on the RTE site is to "nelson-pillar". :rolleyes:

From the article:

The Irish Times reports that a special committee, the Commemorative Naming Committee, will discuss the issue raised by Lord Mayor Oisín Quinn following a suggestion by a member of the public, Fiachra Ó Luain.

Thats how democracy works. A member of the public writes to a public representative. The representative lends his weight for the issue to be heard by a committee. The committee discuss and decide.

In this case it won't happen, because there is a policy of not naming things after people who have died less than 20 years

I bet the Joe Duffy SHow on Dublin FM will be inundated with calls thinking its a good idea.

r3nu4l

If it has to be named after an individual then why not name it after someone who provided a message of hope to the Irish people?

One name that springs to mind is Donal Walsh, an ordinary kid who fought his cancer and appealed to young people not to give up, to seek help and to keep going, no matter what their problems were.

There are definitely other people out there too that deserve recognition, ordinary people who aren't 'business leaders' or 'international politicians' and just because the Spire is in Dublin, doesn't mean it has to be named after a Dub if we are keeping it Irish.

I'd still prefer that they just leave it be but if you have to name it after someone, choose someone who represents hope and compassion.

Captain Swift

Well said r3nu4l! If they insist on naming it after anyone, then Donal Walsh would be someone I'd hope they would consider too. He was an inspiration to all!

miamee

I honestly wouldn't be in favour of naming it after anyone. Can it not just be The Spire as it has been instead of being used for some cheap publicity?

Why not name it after the astronaut, Chris Hadfield? I mean if we're going to name it after people because of tenuous links, then surely he is a better nomination than Mandela, yknow, because he's actually at least doing something for this country.

Or, and this might be a better alternative, just don't rename it at all?

It's almost as bad as when they wanted to build a Che Guecara statue in Galway ... for essentially no reason.

Taxburden carrier

EyeSight wrote: »

DCC are thinking of renaming the spire after Mendela. One reason is it is close to the Dunnes that boycotted SA fruit in protest.

I am all for supporting the man but not like this. There should be enough Irish revolutionary's for that. Lame idea

http://www.rte.ie/ten/news/2014/0115/497950-nelson-pillar/

Sounds like sour grapes

mike65

loyatemu wrote: »

wasn't the block of flats in "Only Fools and Horses" named "Nelson Mandela House"?

It was and that was John Sullivan having a satirical pop at the loony left councils that flourished under Ken Livingstone.

The idea of renaming the Spire smacks of the worst sort of "PC" thinking

I wouldn't be surprised if they go the route of other famous landmarks in Dublin and call it after some corporation..

I can see it now:
The Three 4G Tower.

melekalikimaka

Naming things after Revolutionaries or Celebrities reeks of cheapness and tackiness.

The Spire is grim enough with out sticking some muppet who had a itchy trigger fingers name onto it

loyatemu

someone in the Indo's comments suggested Spike Milligan :pac:

mike65

Given its location it should be something like the Padraig Pearse Monument, see how well that goes down

endacl

Just call it 'The Prick'. It could refer to loads of people then. Value for money.

spurious

Don't see why they have to rename it at all, but given where it is, a suitable and deserving candidate would be the late Tony Gregory.

Mike Guide 69

Nelson Mandela has already been given "Freedom of The City", so that in itself was a great gesture not long after his release. I agree with the idea of naming it after Donal Walsh,who was an inspiration to those who were going through difficult and personal struggles , while dealing with his own tragic health issues, he provided hope and true belief for others.

If its not to be named after him, then maybe naming it after one of the 1916 Irish Volunteers who died with the centenary coming up would be ok as well

minikin

Mad stuff! They should name it after Lech Walesa, Pope John Paul 2....or some pole.

loyatemu

I like the Spire, but ultimately its a big metal spike that signifies nothing. Its not appropriate to name it after anyone - the current name is fine.

miamee

Lacey said the committee had two main guidelines: that there should be a waiting period of around 20 years after a person’s death before a major landmark could be named after them, and that once structures, roads or bridges were named, they shouldn’t be renamed.

From TheJournal
Let's hope they stick to their own guidelines. I'm all in favour of some sort of commemorative item for Mandela, I just don't think 'recycling' a structure that is already there is appropriate or fitting.

The Hill Billy

Have Dublin City Council nothing better to be doing? Mandela was a great man without a doubt, but it would be absurd to rename the spire after him.

There are many others - both Irish & non-Irish - who have made a more significant contribution to the city & the state that would be more deserving of the honour.

@DCC - Get back to work & stop drumming up ideas that'll warrant a junket to South Africa!