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Opinion The Irish handprints on the world's most symbolic site – One World Trade Centre

Many Irish and Kerry men spent more than five years working at the resurrected World Trade Centre site.

THIRTEEN YEARS AFTER the 9/11 terrorist attacks, the resurrected World Trade Centre opened for business this month.

The 104 storey $3.9bn skyscraper dominates the Manhattan skyline. Nestled in front of the towers sits the 9/11 memorial – its twin reflecting pools are each nearly an acre in size and feature the largest man-made waterfalls in America. The pools sit in the footprints of where the twin towers once stood and the memorials are voids that sink down into the earth; a place for remembrance for the families and friends of the 3,000 people who were killed.

The Irish connection to One World 

A Kerry company, Navillus construction, bid for the largest contract in the memorial and were successful. Many Irish and Kerry men spent more than five years working at the most symbolic site in the world, not only working on the towers but also the plaza and the memorial. In fact, at one point there were so many from Kerry working in the World Trade Centre it was nicknamed the ‘Kerry Tower’.

Donal Sullivan, who owns, Navillus (an anagram of his surname) left Ballinskelligs in South Kerry 30 years ago and went to New York working in construction. Today, Navillus employs up to 1,000 people in the construction and concrete industry, many of them from his home county. Donal, like many other millions, was in New York on 9/11 and describes it as being ‘like Beiruit’:

Everyone has a different memory from that day, those who were there speak of the white clouds of dust, some the scattered realms of paper from the office block… but ingrained in my memory are the thousands of floppy discs from PCs everywhere on the site, and shoes, women’s high heels scattered across the debris.

Like thousands of others, he spent months down at the site, searching for the lost.

When Navillus got the contract for the memorial, Donal found that he and his workers had a great passion for the job, more so than any other. Everyone they knew had known someone who had died in 9/11.

The enormity of the task ahead never daunted. The site itself consists of seven different areas and the memorial is located where the two towers stood, all of the new buildings are placed outside of that. Navillus took the memorial from 90ft underground up to ground level – a job that took six years – and the workers knew they were building something that would become an iconic symbol the world over.

Paudie Spillane from the Spa, Killarney, now works in Tower 3 but worked on Tower 4 for three years. The structure of the buildings he’s been working on measure four foot wide and he believes they will never be brought down again. Paudie and his fellow Irish men have also left a personal mark on Tower 4 by inscribing their names on the last piece of steel that was erected there. “I knew that we were working on something special and now we have left our handprint there, a record of the Irish contribution to the rebuild,” he says.

Security is tight in the area nowadays; eye scanners allow only approved people to access to the thousands working there on a daily basis. Since he arrived on site Paudie has documented the rebuild, taken photographs of every stage – it’s a snap shot in time, something he can show his kids and grandkids. He says there is dust still in the basement of some of the towers and has no doubt but that human remains are still on the site, a reminder of lives lost.

Coming from a small farm in Ballymacelltgott outside of Tralee, Assistant Project Manager, Conor Leen can’t describe the enormity of working on a project this size. At home, he says, the biggest undertaking is a slated house; here there are thousands of yards of rebar and concrete and the logistics are another huge undertaking. But he has found that the long hours working on the project have been ‘a home away from home’ at times because of the huge numbers from Kerry working on the site. Like many others, he has no plans to return home yet, New York has given him too many opportunities.

In the months after 9/11, Detective Tony Curtin, from the Major Crimes Unit of the NYPD spent his time out on Staten Island sifting through the debris for body parts in the hope of reuniting those lost with their loved ones. He says he as glad to have been able to reunite some families with their loved ones, but knows that “the memorial for some remains a sacred place – a graveyard, if you like, of remains of those who perished”. Tony says New York now is alot more security conscious now:

New York as always a prime target but now security has heightened, any big events at any of the major targets get attention from our highly trained Hercules Units. They are like our SWAT team, they go from the Tower 1 to the Empire State Building to Grand Central station, patrolling daily. There s also a lot of intelligence gathering now which wasn’t there before, so we have certainly stepped-up our brief post 9/11.

Tony, from Clounmacon, a small town land outside of Listowel in north Kerry is quick to point out the Irish contribution to the rebuilding of the towers and 9/11 memorial. “They built New York many years ago and are now doing the same at ground zero”.

The names of every person who died in the 2001 and 1993 attacks are inscribed into bronze panels edging the memorial pools, a powerful reminder of the largest loss of life resulting from a foreign attack on American soil and the greatest single loss of rescue personnel in American history.

To be able to see it all come together, to touch the names of those who perished, is poignant. The glorious memorials where the buildings once stood, and the 400 oak trees planted there since, provide a sense of life to the plaza. It’s a simple but meaningful tribute to what happened here – and embedded on a beam high up on Tower 4 are the Irish handprints of those who helped New York to rise once more.

Audrey Galvin is a broadcast journalist with Radio Kerry and is researching a PhD proposal on Media Ethics. She was in New York researching a radio documentary called Kingdom Rising with the support of the Broadcasting Authority of Ireland, Sound and Vision Fund. The documentary will be broadcast on Radio Kerry next year.

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    Mute Andrea Rock Massey
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    Nov 23rd 2014, 8:51 AM

    Many Irish and Kerry men….so it’s finally happened then? Kerry is now an island and no longer part of Ireland. And this is how the news is broken to us!

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    Mute kevin daly
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    Nov 23rd 2014, 9:19 AM

    I was there recently the memorable site is a credit to all involved in its construction. There is an errie silence as people walk around the area reading the names of those who perished on that day.
    The security to enter the site is similar to boarding a plane.

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    Mute John S
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    Nov 23rd 2014, 9:38 AM

    The headline definitely suggests that Kerry men are not Irish

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    Mute Paul Roche
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    Nov 23rd 2014, 9:10 AM

    Navillus is an acronym of Sullivan, or did I read that backwards?

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    Mute Gracie
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    Nov 23rd 2014, 9:28 AM

    Your right as it so clearly stated in the article. So no your not clever.

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    Mute John Smith
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    Nov 23rd 2014, 9:46 AM

    The irony of one person calling another “not so clever” when they make the same grammatical mistake twice.
    It’s “you’re”, not your.

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    Mute Ron North
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    Nov 23rd 2014, 12:25 PM

    Calm down theiy’re John.

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    Mute Leo D. MacCallum
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    Nov 23rd 2014, 2:30 PM

    “Navillus is an acronym of Sullivan, or did i read that backwards?” – NAVvy ILk’s Logically Upset Surname? or perhaps it’s just an anagram.

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    Mute Paul Roche
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    Nov 23rd 2014, 5:59 PM

    lol – Sigh.
    The word I should have used was anagram, not acronym.
    Correctly spotted Leo.
    My bad.

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    Mute Ross UAE
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    Nov 23rd 2014, 8:54 AM

    As a Kerry man I am a bit surprised to see the PC Journal has decided we are a separate category, and not just Irish like the other 31 counties. Must be envy of all those Croke Park victories and the natural beautiful of our county.

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    Mute Chief
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    Nov 23rd 2014, 9:03 AM

    Does anyone read the articles anymore?

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    Mute Glen
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    Nov 23rd 2014, 9:09 AM

    They should do an article on that Chief.

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    Mute Chief
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    Nov 23rd 2014, 9:13 AM

    Its like catchphrase, see the first few lines and say what you see

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    Mute Jason
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    Nov 23rd 2014, 9:29 AM

    It’s the opposite if catch phrase chief, read the first few lines and say what you think you saw.

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    Mute Chief
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    Nov 23rd 2014, 9:34 AM

    Actually you’re correct Jason.

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    Mute John O'Neill
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    Nov 23rd 2014, 8:15 PM

    Not me Chief!

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    Mute Padriag O'Traged
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    Nov 23rd 2014, 8:58 AM

    Obligatory Irish claiming article.

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    Mute OU812
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    Nov 23rd 2014, 9:06 AM

    Was at the memorial this year, very solemn & mood adjusting.

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    Mute Steve M
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    Nov 23rd 2014, 10:25 AM

    Was down there in May and managed to get to the top before in even opened thanks to an Irishman who showed me around. Great building.

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    Mute James O Donoghue
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    Nov 23rd 2014, 6:20 PM

    Can’t wait to see it myself. I never saw the towers. I had arrived weeks after 9/11 to see the devastation, the missing person posters all over grand central toward the WTC. Year later they had all the rubble gone which was amazing.

    Terrible evil in this world.

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    Mute Jimbo Murphy
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    Nov 23rd 2014, 10:44 AM

    The world’s most symbolic site – I think not. Mount Sinai – the birth place of modern religion. Acropolis of Athens – Birthplace of democracy and western civilisation. Easily two of the most influential sites to the development of civilisation.

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    Mute Trish Forde-Brennan
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    Nov 23rd 2014, 11:19 AM

    So proud Ireland has helped to rebuild on this hallowed spot.Hope and energy brings new life to honour those who lost theirs.

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    Mute Noreen Lunney
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    Nov 23rd 2014, 2:50 PM

    ireland and the kingdom of kerry

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    Mute linda
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    Nov 23rd 2014, 10:41 AM

    Shouldn’t it be anagram not acronym!?!

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    Mute Greenes Bar Neasden
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    Nov 23rd 2014, 1:54 PM

    Hup the kingdom

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    Mute Conor Mac Manus
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    Nov 23rd 2014, 9:53 AM

    false flag

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    Mute ruth murphy
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    Nov 23rd 2014, 12:37 PM

    Visited the site on Thursday have been numerous times and it still has an effect on me god bless all victims a fantastic memorial

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    Mute Jean Martin
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    Nov 23rd 2014, 5:54 PM

    A tragady…..no problem with that….BUT…..there are huge events all over the world where countless innocents are butchered, drowned or mutilated and there isn’t a word about it……the yanks get a touch and the rest of the world is expected to fall on their knees……correct me if I’m wrong but wasn’t more than half of those killed in the Towers non Americian?

    Now before you all start attacking that red thumb……just think about it……..

    I was in Florence on the day, in the Uffizi from opening time so I knew nothing until I got back to my hostel. The next day while making my way to the Centrum I met a man from somewhere in the States and I sympathised with him…..His reply, at the time surprised me, “it’s just our long over due turn”…..now when I think of that man I wonder at how ‘pragmatic’ he was and I wish there were more like him over there…….maybe there wouldn’t be the amount of slaughtered innocents that there has been and no doubt still to come.

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    Mute Jean Martin
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    Nov 23rd 2014, 5:40 PM

    Whats the difference between an Irish man and a Kerry man…….just asking?

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    Mute Inntalitarian
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    Nov 23rd 2014, 9:27 AM

    *Beirut

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    Mute Ron North
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    Nov 23rd 2014, 12:38 PM

    (1) Click ‘Reply’ directly under the comment you wish to reply to.

    (2) Enter your new comment in the text area that appears.

    (3) Click on the ‘Submit’ button directly below the text area containing the comment that you have just typed.

    No need to thank me.

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    Mute Bob Doran
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    Nov 24th 2014, 4:32 PM

    Just wondering if that navy seal who put the slug in Bin Laden face had any kerry blood..is it true that Superman goes to bed in a kerry football pjamus

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