Christ Church bells to be muffled from this weekend

Sound dampeners will be placed on five Christ Church Cathedral bells from this weekend in an attempt to resolve a dispute between the cathedral and local residents.

Last year Christ Church started inviting visitors to ring some of its bells during tours of the belfry, but the noise provoked complaints from locals, irritated by the sound.

Philip Byrne, who has lived in the area for 15 years, said he normally enjoyed the bells but when untrained tourists rang them the sound was "just clanging – it's noise pollution".

Dublin City Council said it had been in dialogue with the cathedral authorities and locals with a view to reaching "a mutually acceptable resolution".

According to a spokesman, the council has arranged with residents to “carry out noise monitoring so that we can gain a clear profile of the nature and level of noise when the bells are operational during these tours”.

Christ Church said yesterday that applying the dampeners was “not exactly an easy thing to do” but they should be in place by the weekend.