Spire will stay under wraps until January after first segment is put into position

Dubliners finally got their first glimpse of the O'Connell Street Spire yesterday morning.

The first of six pieces of the capital's new monument was lowered into place between 9 a.m. and 10 a.m. Hundreds braved the cold in the middle of the morning rush hour to witness the newest piece of the city's street furniture being put in place.

But the finished product will be kept under wraps for a few more weeks. The section erected yesterday is still covered in black plastic which will remain in place until the new year. The five remaining pieces will be added in the coming weeks before the completed 120-metre high Spire is officially unveiled around the middle of January.

It will be seven times the height of the nearby GPO. It is 3 metres in diameter at its base. Weighing 120 tonnes, the Spire is a hollow cone shape and is just six inches in diameter at the top. It cost €4.6 million.

A complex series of weights and pulleys inside the Spire will keep the massive structure balanced in high winds, although some movement will be visible.

The first 20-metre high section was transported into the city centre by lorry in the early hours of yesterday morning. It was brought first from Waterford to Baldonnel before completing the final leg of the journey at around 1 a.m. yesterday.

Just after 9 a.m. the 140-metre high, 1,000-tonne crane, which has dominated Dublin's skyline in recent weeks, heaved into action. The 42-tonne base section was first carefully lifted upright from where it lay on the traffic island in the middle of O'Connell Street.

It then took almost an hour to gently manoeuvre the base the few metres to its foundations. It was then eased home by a team of engineers and construction workers.

While most Dubliners got their first view from ground level, some workers took to the rooftops of office buildings to see the first section being put in place.

Many passers-by had brought cameras along to record the moment. The project's chief engineer, Mr Michael O'Neill, said the new Spire was "an incredible piece of engineering".

"It's been a very exciting project to work on. I've certainly never done anything like this before and I never will again," he said.

The second and third sections will be put in place in the coming days but the remaining three pieces will have to wait until the new year, he said. "The technique used to case-harden the outside of the spike is the same as that used for helicopter blades and Formula 1 cars," he said.

The base section is engraved with a pattern copied directly from the face of a chunk of rock which was carved out of O'Connell Street when the Spire's foundations were being dug.

However, while Mr O'Neill believes it will be a great addition to the city's skyline, others were not so sure yesterday morning.

Ms Helen Ryan from Edenderry said the funds used to build and erect the Spire would have been better spent on the homeless. "I don't think it's very Irish either," she said.

"After all of the great people Ireland has produced, you'd think they would have found something more suitable to put in its place. Eamon de Valera would look good on O'Connell Street," she said.

Mr John Lawlor from Ballinteer said while he would reserve his judgment until the full structure was in place, the very idea of a Spire had never impressed him. "It's been said that it is supposed to represent us as a country, to reflect who we are as a nation in the 21st century but I'm not so sure," he said.

Ms Asta Kelly, originally from Germany but living in Ireland for 30 years, said the project was very daring and would be admired around the world.

"I think it's fantastic. It is a great piece of art."