Sir, – Allow me to dispel the misconception that Dublin City Council somehow played a part in "Silencing of the bells" at St Bartholomew's Church (Damien Owens, October 4th).This is not the case.
In the past, Dublin City Council received complaints that the bells were chiming every 15 minutes on a 24-hour basis from the church carillon. St Bartholomew’s subsequently undertook that the bells would not operate from 11 pm to 7am. This arrangement was universally accepted and the city council was satisfied that a resolution had been found. In 2012, complaints were received that the bells had once again begun chiming at night. We investigated these complaints.
St Bartholomew’s advised us this was caused by technical problems and that its UK-based horology expert would examine the carillon later this month. We await the expert’s report. I must emphasise that we never ordered St Bartholomew’s to stop their clock or their bells from chiming in the interim. Neither have we threatened to, nor have we the power to impose fines on St Bartholomew’s.
We continue to enjoy good rapport with the church and look forward to a solution being found. Furthermore, we have offered to assist with noise monitoring when any such solutions are being tested, increasing the likelihood of finding a solution that satisfies all concerned. – Yours, etc,
ALAN BREEN,
Press Officer,
Dublin City Council,
Wood Quay,
Dublin 8.