The "Time in the Slime" is now the Clock in Dry Dock. The six ton £250,000 Millennium Clock, which has been taken out of the River Liffey, is now in dry dock in Dublin. Dubliners had barely got used to the unique National Lottery clock when there it was gone.
It was a case of the races against time. Mr Ray Bates of the National Lottery said yesterday it was very pleased with the success of the clock, but it was taken out to facilitate boat races. He promised it would be back as soon as possible after Easter Sunday.
The clock will be taken out at least once a year. This will also give the engineers an opportunity to service it. Its disappearance only three days after it was switched on in the Liffey near O'Connell Bridge came as a big disappointment to many on the bank holiday Monday who came to view the "Time in the Slime".
Many felt it would have been more appropriate to lift it yesterday. However, it seems it was feared that this could have caused traffic problems.
The revelation of its whereabouts scotches one rumour that magician Paul Daniels made it disappear.
The postcard machine which was linked to it has been an unexpected success.
The dispenser on O'Connell Bridge prints out postcards showing the number of seconds left to the year 2000. The run on the cards was amazing," said Mr Bates. "We had 10,000 printed and they were all snapped up."
He said people were coming out of nightclubs at 2 a.m. and buying cards. "In a few years' time these will be collectors' items."