Millennium Spire makes an awesome point

IT’S more of a stump in a dump at the moment. But it’s still possible to imagine what Dublin’s Spire will be like when completed. It will be, quite simply, awesome.

Whether the €4.6m structure can win the hearts of the capital’s citizens remains to be seen. However, if the first 42 tonne, 20-metre high section is anything to go by, the spire will be a tribute to Dublin and Ireland.

The first section of the spire was lifted into place early yesterday morning after being driven at turtle’s pace from its Waterford home.

It will be followed in the coming days by four more sections, to be stacked one on top of each other using Europe’s tallest crane, currently towering over O’Connell Street.

The crane gives a good idea of just how high the Spire will be. The nearby GPO is overshadowed by the first section, so when the entire stainless steel structure is in place, it will be easier to share the near breathless excitement of some of the engineers on this project.

The base of the spire will be polished to reflect the city’s street lights, and a moving beacon will be perched at the tip of the 120m monument to the Millennium.

“You will want to be at the bottom looking straight up when this is finished,” said one of the visibly excited engineers yesterday. “It’s going to make you dizzy.”

It’s supporters say the spire will be Ireland’s Eiffel Tower. But as one cynical Dub said yesterday, it will also be a brightly lit needle attracting every junkie in the city.

O’Connell Street is infamous for its atmosphere of late night drink-fuelled menace and the fact that existing monuments regularly double as toilets.

But Architect Ian Ritchie has a more positive vision for the capital’s main street. He said he wants the Spire, reaching for the sky, to send out a message of optimism and hope.

Controversial and the centre of rancorous debate, now that it’s here, it’s certainly hoped the erection of the Spire, the Spike, the Stiletto in the Ghetto or the Nail in the Pale, standing in the centre of the GPO plaza, can become a towering statement to the city’s determination to reclaim its most famous street.