Sir, - We must remember that the competition flyer sent out by Dublin Corporation and the Royal Institute of Architects of Ireland did not request a monument to mark the millennium. Architects, urban designers and artists were invited "to submit a design to reinstate a monument which would have a pivotal role in the composition of O'Connell Street. There was no mention of the millennium.
That is why the committee of Millennium Ireland has written to Mr John Fitzgerald, Dublin City Manager, asking him to consider having a special monument erected in O'Connell Street to mark the millennium, which is of course the 2,000th anniversary of the birth of Christ and the moment when God came down into human history.
A suitable monument should reflect the Christian nature of the millennium, such as a statue of Christ the King, or of St Patrick, who brought Christianity to Ireland. In fact, the absence of a statue of St Patrick in Dublin city is a national disgrace and is particularly noticeable during the three day so-called St Patrick's Festival in March each year. - Yours, etc., John O'Halloran,
Bantry Road, Dublin 9.