Temple Bar’s redesign failure

Sir, – Una Mullally writes with great passion on the “upgrade” of part of Temple Bar by Dublin City Council (“The redesigned Temple Bar is a failure of the imagination”, Opinion & Analysis, March 18th). The writer speaks of the “mean ugliness” of some of the recent redevelopment work in Temple Bar. Her article brings to mind the words of the late Prof FX Martin, the great warrior who led the forlorn fight to preserve the archaeological remains of Viking Dublin at Wood Quay, just a stone’s throw away from Temple Bar. Commenting on the building of the Dublin Civic Offices on Wood Quay, Prof Martin wrote: “Every city, including Dublin, should have a permanent monument to ugliness as a grim reminder of what has to be avoided”.

How history repeats itself. – Yours, etc,

Fr IGGY O’DONOVAN,

Glen of Aherlow,