Sir, - On a recent edition of RTE's Prime Time, Ms Joan O'Connor, chairperson of the board of assessors for the project to replace the Nelson Pillar, suggested that the final selection will be both contemporary and reflective of Dublin as we approach the year 2000.
On the same programme, the sculptor Eamonn O'Doherty expressed his fears that the narrowness of the brief to the competitors would result in another Nelson Pillar. May I offer a solution which should fulfil Ms O'Connor's criteria while allaying Mr O'Doherty's fears? Given the great material strides that we have made in recent years, would not a more fitting monument be a 250foot tiger with a shamrock in one paw and a semi-detached house in the other? When future generations look back to the late 20th century, this will provide an instant visual expression of where we were around the year 2000, neatly symbolising our booming economy and the fact that house prices had spiralled out of reach of the ordinary citizens of the capital. - Yours, etc., Michael Howard,
Balkill Park,
Howth,
Co Dublin.