O Connell St

SantaHoe

Hmmm, I didn't think the first section would be quite so large.
Looks like it's going to be a mosterous yolke by the time it's finished
Yeah it's a waste of money... they could have given the money to me, but it's nice to have something to gawk at and say "jeyasus look at de bleedin' soiz oh dah!"... innit.

sceptre

Originally posted by MDR
well its finally going up ...

When, today?

(didn't notice anything yesterday when I was wandering around the big schmoke)

MDR

first section is already up ... the second section goes up today.
there are nine sections in all.

BeatTun

lmfao @ that millenium clock in the liffey

what the fukk was that all about?

Zachary Taylor

a marring of the old and new.

freudian.

Wasn't one of the conditions of the original project that the monument would fit in with the existing buildings, monuments etc... which the Monument of Light certainly doesn't. I think that in a city with such gaping ommissions in the immortalisation of historical figures that the spike is meaningless. The point of the Eiffel Tower was that it reflected the industrial age in which it was built. My main objection is that the monument doesn't really represent anything positive - that the connection between the spike and a syringe or stiletto is much more natural than between the spike and anything positive. Also, it will make Daniel O' Connell look like there is a giant luminous spike growing out of his head.

MDR

There was a competition, it won, love it or hate it, its democracy in its finest form.

Wether the Spire fits in with the rest of O'Connell street is all a matter of taste. Theoritically we could re-building nelson's column but who would we put on top of it (assuming we won't want to put nelson back) DeValera, Collins, Butt, Lemas, Wilde, Yeats ... The Pope. Of course you could dedicate the monument or any alternative you would find appropriate to a more absract cause, such as World Peace etc ...

The Monument of Light I suppose is the ultimate abstraction, its a light in the dark, its a pillar of strenght, a beacon in the night, or a giant herion needle. I don't know, I think its appropriate in a way that its left to the citizen to decide what it represents ... the absraction doesn't bother me ... don't ask what its for, let it just be.

Zachary Taylor

Democracy in its finest form? I don't mean to be argumentitive (you are right in saying that it is a matter of taste) but to say that the decision was democratic is ridiculous. Apart from the fact that the monument is contraty to one of the conditions of the competition ( as I have stated earlier), it was not selected by popular vote. To quote Dublin City Council:

"The winning design was chosen from an original international field of 205 entries. The majority of the entries were from Ireland but were also received from Europe, America and even Iran. The field was shortlisted to three, Jonathan Bennett, Dublin based architect, Ian Ritchie Architects of London and Hunt McGarry, Architects, also based in London.

The panel of assessors were the Lord Mayor of Dublin, Clllr. Senator Joe Doyle, Joan O'Connor, Architect and Chairperson Jim Barrett, Dublin City Architect, Henri Ciriani, Parisian based architect, Dick Gleeson, Dublin Corporation, , Tom Rae, Dublin Chamber of Commerce, Vivenne Roche, Sculptor."
http://www.dublincity.ie/planning/monument2.html

schrodinger

I don't like the spike at all. I really think they should have left the flussie in the jacuzy. As others have said already it's just going to be covered with graffitti and the police are going to spend their time arressting idiots who believe they're spiderman nad try to climb it.

^CwAzY^

It can't be graffitied to the best of my knowledge. It was pounded with steel pellets to give it a surface that can't be vandalised

GuanYin

Mneh, I think its a gross misuse of money.
4 million euros plus upkeep for a large shiney stick?

I'm sure it will make O'Connell street look nicer, sure, but then so would spending for million on a project targeted at giving shelter and food the to vast number of homeless people that I see around town at night.

It might also be money more morally spent.

MDR

True .... but as I have said before ...
you can always find 'what the money may have been better spent on'.

Money spent on Broadband infrastructure perhaps could have been better spent on hospital, that is if you don't value Broadband. It has alot to do the value you place on something.

If you ask the older generations of Dubliners what O'Connell street was like during the 60's. They will go all starry eyed and talk about the metropole dance hall et al . O'Connell street has gone to rack and ruin since.

People don't relise the effect living in a squad neon ridden town has on the quality of life/moral of its people. However they run out of Dublin the first chance they get, and say Jasus I am glad I got out there, what about the people who are left ?

Can a 120 metre steel spire improve the quality of life of the people ? not by itself, but it is only the start of the €400 milllion regeneration of O'Connell street and surrounds. Dubliners deserver a city to be proud of, they deserve a modern city.

Some excellent work has been done on the regeneration of the city on the southside over years, now its times to tackle O'Connell street and the unholy mess it has become. The Spire is a very modern daring piece of art, it was always gonna be contraversal, but all the contraversey has been useful in putting attention back on O'Connell street.

If you want to rebuild the town you are gonna have to be daring and you are gonna have to spent money. Do Dubliners not deserve to live in a town as pretty as say 'Kilkenny' ?.

BTW ... the council is building homeless shelters at the moment ... in association with one of the groups which tries to look after them. A couple of mate of mine are site foreman at the construction of 2 homeless shelters. Propbabily OT because the money could have been better spent on thing X instead, but I though it worth letting you know ... I do dispare at the homeless situation myself also ....

Lafortezza

Originally posted by sykeirl
Mneh, I think its a gross misuse of money.
4 million euros plus upkeep for a large shiney stick?

I'm sure it will make O'Connell street look nicer, sure, but then so would spending for million on a project targeted at giving shelter and food the to vast number of homeless people that I see around town at night.

It might also be money more morally spent.

If every person going out on the town next weekend bought 1 less drink over the night and it was all counted and spent on something more "moral", how much do you think the final figure would be?

What if this was done every weekend? And what if it was done for cigarettes and other stuff, just one pack a week less by everyone who smokes, money going to worthy causes...

The money is always there, just that we're spending it on different things

GuanYin

Originally posted by lafortezza
If every person going out on the town next weekend bought 1 less drink over the night and it was all counted and spent on something more "moral", how much do you think the final figure would be?

Where did the money from the spire come from in the first place? either directly from tax money or from an EU fund that directly or indirectly came from taxes initially.

What people do and how much they contribute to charity is a matter of personal choice and that sort of thing can't be pushed on the masses.

However, any argument about making Dublin City centre look nicer or improving morale of Dublin city that ignores the city's poor and impovrished is seriously flawed.

A cosmeting thing is grand, but I for one would have a higher morale if I wasn't concerned about some poor 15 year old freezing to death on a doorstep on the quays.