And so, at last, the soaring Spire of Dublin has been raised into the sky over O'Connell Street. Dogged by controversy since its design was first unveiled more than four years ago, and delayed during construction by windy weather, the structure that has spawned more denigratory letters to this newspaper than any other subject in recent years can finally be judged by the public.
Hundreds of people who gathered on the capital's main street yesterday broke into applause and cheered as the final piece was put in place. The stupendous height of Ian Ritchie's stainless steel needle was bound to inspire awe and wonder. Seeing is believing, especially for those who could not quite visualise what it would look like, even from numerous computer-generated images.
On a previous occasion, 37 years ago next month, far too many Dubliners disgraced themselves by celebrating on O'Connell Bridge when the Army demolished what was left of Nelson's Pillar after the IRA blew off the top. Since then, the loss of that crucial centrepiece of Dublin's principal thoroughfare has been acknowledged through such important civic-spirited initiatives as the Pillar Project in 1988.
The search for a suitable replacement for the Pillar culminated in an international design competition 10 years later. And while the winning scheme failed to provide public access, it was clear that Mr Ritchie's slender Monument of Light, as he called it, would provide a very arresting focal point for a street in desperate need of regeneration, and for a fraction of the investment O'Connell Street requires.
It has been argued in some quarters that the money could have been spent on more hospital beds, on renovating dilapidated school buildings, or on providing shelter for the homeless. But any civilised society, especially one as relatively prosperous as ours, would find the funds for those important social needs as well as investing in grand civic gestures, especially one that offers the prospect of uplifting the fortunes of the capital's principal street.
Others have argued that the monument now given tangible expression on the site of Nelson's Pillar is a pointless relic of the so-called Celtic Tiger era. Yet the fact that it commemorates no historical figure is surely one of its strengths. By simply reaching for the heavens, from a base of only three metres to a height fully twice that of Liberty Hall, this extraordinary edifice can be viewed as a monument to optimism and hope for the future.
The completion of the Spire of Dublin is a tribute to all of those involved, particularly the civic authorities who pursued it through thick and thin. And whatever about all the begrudgery, there can be no doubt that it will become one of the most memorable and talked-about elements of the city's public realm, nationally and internationally. All that remains is the lighting of its beacon, to provide a visible reminder, even in the dead of night, of where the heart of Dublin once lay and where it might still beat strongly in the future.