Site clearance shows beauty of old city

I WISH to thank Jurys Hotels for felling their egg-crate architectural expression in glass and concrete that has been a feature of the Western Road in Cork for far too long.

It is just about worth putting up with the dust and noise to see the fine vista of St Finbarre's rising over that part of town once again.

Surely the residents of Mardyke Street are enjoying the brief increase in light and beauty that once was theirs by right. For French Gothic fans like me there is everything to like about this view perspective, distance and the unbroken skyline.

Those with an appreciation of beauty should go to the Western Road to see for themselves. Time is limited.

Already the steel work is on site and soon another 'battery-hen' monstrosity will be here to obscure our horizon. The designers and owners of modern buildings have other priorities and aesthetics are way down the list. They give us buildings that take up space in our environment without adding anything worthwhile to it.

Michael Burgess

87 Blarney Street

Cork.