THE building of a £35 million Hilton Hotel at College Green, Dublin, was criticised by Ms Mairin Quill (PD, Cork North Central).

She warned it would "fundamentally and irretrievably" after the historic and architectural character of College Green. It would be allowed happen because there was no legislation in place to protect areas of major historical importance, she added.

Ms Quill said she had heard a Dublin councillor, a member of her own party, claiming on a radio programme that the location of the hotel was a Dublin issue.

"It is not a Dublin issue. It is a national issue. College Green, with its rich symbolism and importance, is as much my inheritance as a Cork person as it is his inheritance as a Dubliner."

She said she was particularly upset by the development. "Of course, the Hilton Hotel Group is very pleased to be able to locate its building there. We would all be delighted to have a prestigious commercial address like College Green, Ireland."

Ms Quill was speaking during a debate on a motion approving the terms of the Convention for the Protection of the Architectural Heritage. The Minister for Arts, Culture and the Gaeltacht, Mr Higgins, said it sought to lay down European standards for the protection of the heritage and set out a range of obligations which signatories undertook to implement.

These obligations, he added, related to the identification of properties to be protected, the implementation of statutory protection procedures and the acceptance of responsibilities in a European context for the co ordination of conservation policies.