A team of electrical engineers from Britain will begin work this morning to repair the lighting structure on the Spire monument in Dublin's O'Connell Street.
While the base light and the two aviation lights at the top and middle of the 120-metre Spire are still working, a fault has been detected in the shimmering architectural light. The thousands of light-emitting diodes were expected to last about 25 years, but they were quenched within months.
Dublin City Council engineer, Mr Michael O'Neill, said the team flew into Dublin yesterday and hoped to be in a position to remove the light structure today.
It could take up to four hours to remove the light unit and the same time to replace it, so repairing a major fault in a short time-frame may not be feasible, he said. For safety reasons, the aviation lights must be back working before darkness. If the fault lay with the light unit, then a second stand-by light unit would be erected, he said.
However, if the fault lay in the connections in the Spire, then the workers would have to remove the light unit daily and try to repair the fault, while replacing the aviation lights before nightfall.
Mr O'Neill said he hoped the Spire would be re-lit within a week. The controversial Spire, which was dogged by objections and court challenges, was lowered into place in January and officially unveiled in July.
