Sir, – Further to discussions about moving the Spire and alternative uses for it, a few of suggestions:
1. We could use it to lance future property bubbles;
2. We could use it to inject some life into the domestic economy; or
3. Given the recent protests regarding plans for renewable energy, we could lend it to some local Don Quixote to tilt at windfarms. Yours, etc
ROB SADLIER,
Stocking Avenue,
Rathfarnham,
Dublin 16
Sir,- There does exist a precedent for the removal of the Spire. In February 1891, my grand-uncle Adam and a fellow trader in Upper O’Connell Street, publisher Henry Gill, promoted a private member’s Bill to remove Nelson’s Pillar from where the Spire now stands to another less obtrusive position in the street. Their concern was that the pillar prevented free communication between Henry Street and Earl Street, and also that it was a hindrance to the development of trade in the upper end of the street. The Bill was carried by a majority of five, the fifth being Charles Stewart Parnell, who strolled in as the bell rang, knowing nothing of what was going on and voted in favour. Tim Healy MP contributed: “Monuments in a public street are a public nuisance, and I should be prepared to support a Bill not only for the removal of this monument but also for those to O’Connell, Father Mathew and Sir John Gray. If it is desirable to commemorate the memory of the great dead the statutes ought to be placed somewhere where they will not be in the way of the living.” Yours, etc,
ALEX FINDLATER.
Cong,
Co Mayo
Sir, - Timber!!! Yours, etc,
MICHELE SAVAGE,
Glendale Park,
Dublin 12