Inspiring €4.8m landmark finds place with people

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Archiseek / Ireland / News / 2006 / April 10

Dublin Spire

O'Connell Street's much-maligned €4.8m spire has finally touched the hearts of unwelcoming Dubliners. The towering monument, which got more of a slagging than the notorious "floozie in the jacuzzie", is now considered a city treasure by city centre residents. Nicknamed among other things 'The Stiletto in the Ghetto' and the 'The Spike', a new survey of Dubliners has revealed that it has become as important an icon in the minds of city centre residents as Clery's Clock or Trinity College. "It was criticised by the public when it was first designed, but is now considered one of the most classical buildings in Dublin and Ireland," said Tom Coffey, chief executive of the Dublin City Business Association. The spire was built after its design was the winning entry in a 1998 competition to replace Nelson's Pillar. After missing its expected launch at the millennium, it was finally built in 2003 after a legal challenge. Opinions on the spire were heavily divided, with some Dubliners seeing it as cumbersome as a mobile phone mast in the centre of O'Connell St, while enthusiasts saw it as Ireland's answer to the Eiffel tower.

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