The Irish Times

The proposed modern block to the front of the Bishop's Palace in Kilkenny would constitute "an alien eyesore". This is according to one of the appellants to the planning permission granted to the Church of Ireland to transform the palace into a headquarters for the Heritage Council. In his appeal, Johnny Couchman, who has a Carlow address, described the design of the new building as in the "modern bus shelter idiom... totally incongruous and utterly at odds with the style of the old house".