Sir, – It was with growing incredulity that I read Dublin City Council are considering encasing the Poolbeg chimneys in fibreglass to preserve them ("Poolbeg chimneys may have to be encased in fibreglass, says council", News, March 9th).
Here’s an alternative, much more economical suggestion. Bring in a demolition crew and wipe this hideous eyesore from existence. It has been a blight on Dublin Bay for decades. – Yours, etc,
COLIN C MURPHY,
Dublin 6W.
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Sir, – Since the ESB closed the Poolbeg power station in Dublin Port 14 years ago, there has been desultory debate about how to preserve, maintain, and even enhance the iconic twin chimneys. Various fanciful proposals for their use have been put forward, including linking them with a transverse section, and having a sky-high restaurant on top. In fact, apart from capping both chimneys, nothing has been done to them externally. Fourteen years of neglect is showing. Their red and white stripes are dull, dingy and rust-streaked. They give a poor image of our capital city. Now you report that the ESB and Dublin City Council are yet again having an unenthusiastic conversation about their future. Will we have to wait another 14 years before someone makes a decision? Yours, etc,
RODNEY DEVITT,
Sandymount,
Dublin 4.
Sir, – It is interesting to note the devoted attachment some Dubliners, and Dublin City Council members in particular, have to the “iconic” Poolbeg chimneys which the ESB continues to maintain. The Poolbeg plant, with its 207m chimneys, was decommissioned many years ago and it now costs several million euro for the State-owned company to foot the maintenance bill.
The Bellacorick power station in Co Mayo was a potent symbol of progress and prosperity throughout the 1960s and 1970s, in what was then a neglected part of our country. Its gigantic tower was the landmark feature which welcomed home generations of emigrants to the Erris area over decades. It ceased operation in 2005 and was demolished two years later after being deemed a safety hazard. Some 61 wind turbines with an overall height of 176m now make up a wind farm on the site, which is jointly owned by Bord na Móna and the ESB.
As Ireland’s east coast prepares to be the mainstay for the country’s renewable energy with new planning for wind farms located kilometres offshore, any objectors, including Dublin City Council and the ESB, to the project should keep in mind that finances allocated to the production of clean electricity come well ahead of exorbitant and wasteful costs in maintaining a city “monument”. – Yours, etc,
KEVIN MCLOUGHLIN,
Ballina,
Co Mayo.
Sir, – Further to your article that the Poolbeg chimney stacks will have to be encased in fibreglass in order to preserve them into the future, is it not time that we all took a collective look at ourselves and our frame of mind that we are now talking about spending several million euro in order to preserve two redundant and filthy industrial chimneys from the 1970s.
Let’s knock them down, and in their place build something beautiful that we can all be proud of and that might encourage people to visit and spend time at, rather than attracting the bewilderment of visitors that these chimneys are still in place long after they were actually used. – Yours, etc,
DONAL FOLEY,
Castleknock,
Dublin 15.