Spire of Dublin - Reason For Construction

Reason For Construction

The monument was commissioned as part of a street layout redesign in 1999. O'Connell Street had declined for a number of reasons such as the proliferation of fast food restaurants and the opening of bargain shops using cheap plastic shop fronts which were unattractive and obtrusive; the existence of a number of derelict sites; and the destruction in 1966 of Nelson's Pillar following a bombing by former IRA members.

The Anna Livia monument was installed on the site for the 1988 Dublin Millennium celebrations. In the 1990s, plans were launched to improve the streetscape. The excessive number of trees in the central reservation, which had overgrown and obscured views and monuments, was reduced dramatically. This was controversial, as the trees had been growing for a century. Statues were cleaned and in some cases relocated. Shop-owners were required to replace plastic signage and frontage with more attractive designs. Traffic was re-directed where possible away from the street and the number of traffic lanes was reduced to make it more appealing to pedestrians. The centrepiece of this regeneration was to be a replacement monument for Nelson's Pillar, the Spire of Dublin, chosen from a large number of submissions in an international competition by a committee chaired by the Lord Mayor of Dublin, Joe Doyle. The Anna Livia monument was moved to make way for the Spire in 2001.