The Spire is just one part of the planned regeneration of the capital'smain boulevard. Kitty Holland outlines what's next for O'Connell Street
The Spire may - finally - be up, but there's more work to be done on the monument, and it will be a few weeks before anyone can walk over and touch it.
Ms Anne Graham, project mananger on the O'Connell Street Integrated Area Plan, explains that there is also a lot more planned for the State's main street.
The Spire will not be properly finished until an embellished piece of bronze plating, measuring seven metres in circumference, is put into the paving around the base. It is to come from Westley Engineering in England.
The paving around the new monument will have to be put back, the lighting inside the Spire will have to be connected to the mains, and the "mass damper" system within - a pendulum mechanism to control vibrations in tall structures - will have to be "released", explained Ms Graham yesterday.
"So it will be a number of weeks before it is officially unveiled, probably the beginning of February." She said no one had yet been chosen to master the "opening ceremony", given that the engineers had been uncertain about dates.
"Also, we weren't sure what sort of ceremony we want to have," she added.
"The next project we have now is the first phase of the project between Princes Street and Henry Street," said Ms Graham. "New granite paving will be laid from one side of the street to the other, with small, clipped lime trees around, creating a square, like an open room, in front of the GPO."
Traffic will continue to pass through this area.
Then, between Princes Street and Abbey Street, as well as between Henry Street and Parnell Street, the footpaths will be further widened to double their existing width. and fast-growing plane trees are to be planted, boulevard style, along the footpath sides. This phase of widening and planting is expected to take the planners in the IAP office to the end of the year.
Beyond that, kiosks are planned for strategic locations along the median of O'Connell Street. "They will be newspaper stands, coffee shops - there has been a lot of interest in these from various businesses and we are looking at what kind of things will be suitable."
Crafts and other types of produce could also be sold from the kiosks, she said. Beyond O'Connell Street, Ms Graham and Dublin City Council staff are looking at the regeneration of the adjoining areas, in D'Olier Street and Westmoreland Street to the south and the Parnell Square area to the north.
"We want to reduce the amount of traffic, to widen footpaths and put in cycle-lanes in all those areas. With Parnell Square we want to draw people up from O'Connell Street, so people don't see a full stop at the end of O'Connell Street there. We'd like to open up the Garden of Remembrance towards the Hugh Lane Gallery and to create a strong cultural centre along the square, including, of course, the Gate Theatre. At the moment the square is not animated as it could be."
She said the plans for either end of O'Connell Street were still works in progress and would not begin to be implemented until those for O'Connell Street were in place.
As for changing the shopfronts of O'Connell Street, Ms Graham said the council was working with existing traders on the street, offering tax incentives to encourage them to improve and, where necessary, change their frontages altogether.
New regulations, known as Area Special Planning Controls, are going to public consultation next month and are expected to be adopted by the council within the next number of months, she continued.
These controls will identify businesses the council wants no more of on the street, such as discount stores, convenience stores and fast-food outlets. Any business owner hoping to change their current shop use to one identified under the ASPCs will have to apply for special planning permission and would be unlikely to get permission.