Two legal actions aimed at preventing Dublin Corporation from erecting the planned millennium monument in O'Connell Street are expected to be heard jointly in the High Court next Monday.
The judicial review cases have been taken by Mr Micheal O Nuallain (71), a brother of the late Brian O'Nolan, alias Myles na Gopalleen, and Ms Mary Duniyva, a Russian artist who describes herself as the ultimate woman poet.
Ms Duniyva maintains that the proposed 120-metre stainless steel spire, designed by Ian Ritchie, a London architect, would be "an anorexic and alien body - alien from every angle in material, size, shape and symbolism".
Mr Ritchie's project won an international design competition to find a new monument for the site of Nelson Pillar. His spire, which would be twice the height of Liberty Hall, was due to be erected by the end of this year.
The competition attracted a total of 205 entries - an Irish record. Ms Duniyva and Mr O Nuallain were among the alsorans. He has told the High Court he was shocked to discover the adjudicators made their decision in just two days.
Mr O Nuallain filed an affidavit by Mr Sam Stephenson, architect of the ESB in Fitzwilliam Street, the Central Bank and the first phase of the Civic Offices, in which he maintained that Mr Ritchie's spire would be at odds with the historic context of O'Connell Street.
Dublin Corporation has countered with an affidavit by Mr Arthur Gibney, Mr Stephenson's one-time partner, president of the Royal Hibernian Academy and former president of the Royal Institute of the Architects of Ireland, who argues the reverse.
Mr Joan O'Connor, another former RIAI president who chaired the competition jury, will also be telling the court how its members had unanimously chosen Mr Ritchie's slender spire. The Lord Mayor, Sen Joe Doyle, was a member of the jury.
After winning the competition last November, Mr Ritchie described his spire as a 21st century interpretation of standing stones and obelisks. It drew its inspiration from Ireland's light and skies and symbolised "growth, search, release, thrust and Ireland's future".
The competition entries by Ms Duniyva and Mr O Nuallain were quite different. She proposed to rebuild the pillar, but with a sculpted Sun rather than Nelson on top. He proposed a flying saucer, on top of a hexagonal tower rising from a square base.
Ms Duniyva maintains that her proposal - the Sun Pillar - would be the best solution for the pillar site "since it gives a positive outlook on life and is a sign of a new beginning evolving from the history of mankind into the 21st century".
Her Sun would be a sphere of bronze, with beams radiating from it in gold, silver and copper, above a pillar "inscribed with a poem appealing to the world over". She visualised that the poem would be "cast on four silver plaques in burnished gold letters".
The first verse of the poem reads: "I, the Sun, am descending upon you/ to remind you that/ the Earth moves around me to warm you people up/ and even when I am in hiding behind the clouds/ I am there for you". The poem continues in the same vein.
Ms Duniyva, who has lived in 13 countries on three continents, said that restoring the pillar with the Sun would be "an act of catharsis to help Irish people to go onwards and upwards in life, being a beacon of light and a symbol of hope and peace for this island".
She concluded: "My artistic project will go into history as the Sun Pillar of Dublin, since the Pillar combined with the colourful sculpted Sun together with my embossed poem, which is timeless, should appeal to all ages, both adults and children, the future of Ireland".
Mr O Nuallain said his proposal, a "skypod" mounted on a hexagonal column with a largely-glazed two-storey square base, would be an abstract representation of the legendary hero, Cuchullain, with the tower symbolising his sword and the skypod his shield.
It would "give Dublin a unique sculptured and visual symbol second to none worldwide", according to his submission for the competition. "New York has its Statue of Liberty, Paris the Eiffel Tower and Dublin will have its Flying Saucer", Mr O Nuallain declared.
He maintained it would also be a living monument, giving people "unrivalled views" of the city. Such public access was an integral part of his proposal, even though he conceded that the provision of lifts and stairs would need "require a massive structure".
After much consideration, he said the shape of a hexagon was adopted, to minimise its bulk. At night, the rising tower would create a ghostly refection of Nelson Pillar while the skypod above it would appear to revolve "courtesy of animation from neon lighting".
Future phased development of Mr O Nuallain's Cuchullain Centre might include making the skypod's first-floor restaurant revolve in reality, but this would be a costly venture. "It is more important for patrons to revolve", his submission said.
The provision of underground toilets could also be considered. "These would be flooded with daylight (courtesy of the present Japanese technology)", he wrote. "Flowers and plants could be naturally grown in the toilets, thus making these toilets unique and pleasant".