Complacency is a particularly unattractive character trait - but one to which we all seem vulnerable of late. So pleased were we with the economic improvements enjoyed by this country during the past few years that other, much less appealing changes taking place were either ignored or disregarded. Complacency has now set in to such an extent that its first cousin, indifference, is rampant and no matter what occurs to despoil our surroundings, nobody seems even mildly troubled.
How else can one explain the complete lack of concern over Dublin Corporation's recent approval for a bar to be opened in a building at the junction of D'Olier Street and Westmoreland Street? This important 19th-century structure, which can be seen from the furthest end of O'Connell Street, is shortly to have a Manchester United theme pub occupying its basement.
Alcohol consumption
Now, there has been considerable publicity given recently both in this newspaper and elsewhere to the problems arising from drinking too much alcohol. Last month, a conference was told that while the amount of alcohol consumed in the majority of EU states had declined over the past decade, in Ireland it had increased by a frightening 41 per cent. And a survey conducted last year by the Garda Research Unit of 27 divisions showed that alcohol was a factor in 88 per cent of public order cases, 54 per cent of criminal damage cases and 48 per cent of offences against the person.
Still, on the basis of the approval just granted, evidently the planning department of Dublin Corporation believes the city centre does not have enough licensed premises. Perhaps the planners have not noticed that in the lower storeys of O'Connell Bridge House, on the other side of D'Olier Street, there is a massive "super pub" - or that the building next door to the Ballast House on Aston Quay is also a pub. Possibly they have not wandered lately into nearby Temple Bar, where every other building seems to be occupied by a bar; nor would they appear to have seen that both sides of the Liffey boast an abundance of hostelries. They certainly cannot have been on the streets of central Dublin after all these premises have closed. Otherwise, they would have witnessed the consequence of so many pubs in such close proximity. They would have seen the drunken crowds engaging in the activities reported by last year's Garda Research Unit and, suitably appalled and chastened by the spectacle of widespread anti-social behaviour, they would have withheld permission for any more licensed premises.
Urban planning
They might also have wondered at the wisdom of allowing a pub into a building of such importance as that at the apex of Westmoreland and D'Olier streets. This elegant piece of urban planning owes its existence to the Wide Street Commissioners who, at the start of the 19th century, arranged for the two thoroughfares to sweep down from Trinity College and meet at the foot of O'Connell Bridge. Originally, all the buildings on both streets were designed by James Gandon's pupil and partner Henry Aaron Baker, some of whose work still remains intact on D'Olier Street. But the block at the junction was demolished in the 1890s and replaced by the building which can still be seen there today.
The architect of this structure was one of the most prolific of the period, John Joseph O'Callaghan, then nearing the end of his career. Owing to the building's significance in his oeuvre, it soon became known as "O'Callaghan's Chance". Designed in the French Gothic style and constructed of Portland stone, the structure is embellished by a wealth of enchanting detail, especially on the three-bay facade looking across O'Connell Bridge and down the full length of O'Connell Street; the top storey here, a gargoyled octagonal turret, is especially appealing.
O'Callaghan went to considerable trouble with this design because he appreciated the character of the site, one of the most important in the city. His building not only closes a vista which begins with the Rotunda Hospital's former Assembly Rooms - now the Ambassador and Gate Theatres - but also marks the meeting point of five major routes, two from the south and one each from the other principal points of the compass. Courtesy of the Wide Streets Commissioners, these all congregate at the same point, directly in front of O'Callaghan's building, which ought - were the city planners to show some of the wisdom of their forbears - to serve as Dublin's main public plaza. Here are views sweeping down the Liffey to the Custom House and up to the Four Courts. To the north can be seen the GPO and the Rotunda, to the south Trinity College and the Bank of Ireland.
Quagmire of traffic
Or at least they might be seen, were not all these streets a filthy quagmire of traffic against which pedestrians must battle and above which O'Callaghan's glorious slender structure rises with as much dignity as can be managed. And now that dignity is to suffer a further blow when the building, which is already backed by a cheaply-fitted retail unit selling Manchester United clothing and souvenirs, has to accommodate a pub in its basement.
The ground floor is currently occupied only by a poorly-executed metal staircase, the residue of an attempt last year to use the premises for a Manchester United theme restaurant. Permission has now been granted by the corporation's planners for a new staircase and new signage, just in case Dubliners have difficulty locating a bar - there being so few of them, after all, in the city centre.
Changes in both the building's appearance and use are to take place in the weeks ahead and no one, it can be confidently predicted, will show any concern. Indifference and complacency retain their hold over us all.