A new monument in O'Connell Street for Dublin and Ireland
Ian Ritchie Architects won the international competition for a monument in the centre of Dublin. The design is the flagship project of a wider improvement of the centre of Ireland’s capital city, in particular, O’Connell Street.
120 metres high and 3 metres in diameter at the base, the monument rises above O’Connell Street, breaking above the roof line with as slender and elegant a movement as is technically possible. Its structure and surfaces respond to the character and climate of the Irish landscape: The spire gently sways in direct response to the wind and during daytime the monument softly reflects the light of Ireland’s sky. From dusk and at night the base will be gently lit and the tip strongly illuminated to provide a beacon in the night sky over Dublin. It is anchored in the granite below and the surrounding spiral bronze base symbolises Ireland’s past. The Spire is made entirely of stainless steel which has been shot-peened in order to reflect subtly the light falling upon it.
The monument has been constructed in celebration of Ireland’s confident future in the third millennium.