Value for money?

Patrick O'Reilly estimates his proposal for the Poolbeg chimneys would cost €1 million. How does this compare with other high-profile publicly-funded arts projects?

The Spire: The 120-metre Spire in Dublin's O'Connell Street, which cost €4.8 million, was designed by London architect Ian Ritchie in 1998 and selected as the winning design in an international competition. It went up in July 2003, a year behind schedule. Selected nicknames: Stilleto in the Ghetto, the Spire in the Mire, the Stiffy by the Liffey, and the Spike.

Joyce Manuscripts: In 2002, the National Library of Ireland acquired a large collection of previously unknown James Joyce manuscripts, notebooks and workbooks for €12.6 million from the Léon family. They were bought at auction in London from Sotheby's. The acquisition was funded from the Heritage Fund, established in 2002 by the Minister for Arts, Heritage, Gaeltacht and the Islands, Síle de Valera TD and with support from the AIB Group under the tax credit scheme.

The Countdown 2000 Millennium Timer: This clock-like object weighing six tons was placed in the Liffey in 1996, with the intention of counting down the days to the Millennium. Funded by the National Lottery at £250,000 (€317,435), it lasted a mere seven months in the water. The time became impossible to see, as algae and seaweed obscured it, which meant the object was renamed "The Chime in the Slime" by the public. "It was a project which was ahead of its time," John Hynes, chairman of the National Lottery, admitted ruefully in 1997.