Those working on Dublin's Spire got to enjoy their 15 minutes of fameyesterday, writes Conor Lally
Scotsman Mr Davie Andrews has had the most important job in Dublin in recent weeks. He was the crane driver who put all six sections of the new Spire of Dublin into place.
Shortly after climbing down from the cab of his massive crane yesterday, he said he "wasn't the slightest bit nervous" about putting the Spire in place.
"It's not that big. I've done bigger things before, like chimneys, but the difference this time around was the area we were working in - it's a very tight and confined site," he said.
"It took a lot of planning but everything went absolutely perfectly, apart from the wind in the last week or two which none of us had any control over anyway."
Originally from Peterhead, north of Aberdeen, Mr Andrews has been working in Ireland in recent years, travelling home for a week's break every month.
Straining his neck to survey his handywork after the final section was slotted home yesterday, he said he was "looking forward to a few pints of Guinness" now that all the hard work was done.
"It's quite a sight when you see it all up in one piece. It was a great job to have been involved in."
While Mr Andrews may have been something of the unsung hero of the Spire's assembly, one of his colleagues on the project got to bask in a certain glory in the skies above O'Connell Street yesterday.
Mr James Duncan, from Ballycastle, Co Antrim, was the man chosen to climb up the massive ladder insider the Spire all the way to the top of the fifth section to guide the final piece home. It certainly was not a job for the faint-hearted.
Just after noon, his hard-hat-covered headed emerged from the top of the fifth section.
A massive cheer went up in the crowd of several thousand gathered around 100 metres below on O'Connell Street.
Mr Duncan lapped up his 15 minutes of fame, waving back to the cheering party, much to the delight of the onlookers.
"The climb was hard on the legs, it's some height so it is," he said.
"The last section slung perfectly over to me nice and slowly. You can't rush that kind of a job. It was a great feeling getting the shout back from the crowd when I waved down at them. You can see for absolutely miles up there."
The experience of his regular job no doubt came in handy yesterday.
"I usually work putting up wind turbines. So we'd put something up about the height of this tower and then assemble 400 tonnes of turbines on top of it. It's the same set-up, the same kind of ladder inside the tower. So it was no problem today."