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'A statement of national pride' with 30-mile views: the unsuccessful plan to build Dublin's Eiffel Tower

The £40m building was projected to attract 500,000 visitors every year.

Millennium Tower1 An artist's impression of the proposed Millennium Tower National Archives National Archives

WITH A UNIQUE offer of panoramic views of the Irish capital, Dublin’s answer to the Eiffel Tower was expected to attract more than 500,000 visitors every year.

But in spite of its lofty ambitions, the £40m project never got off the ground.

Details of the proposal by the now-dissolved company Renaissance Developments were contained in an application for European Commission structural funds in 1989, released this week under the 30-year State Papers rule.

According to the application, the 184m Millennium Tower in Dublin’s IFSC was to be a “major central tourist attraction” intended to act as a focal point for visitors to the city.

The classically designed building would have contained 57,000 square metres of offices, four flats, six penthouses, a restaurant, and space for a swimming pool and a nightclub, all of which would help to finance the tower on an ongoing basis.

But despite these features, the building was primarily intended to be an observation tower, similar to the CN Tower in Toronto or the Eiffel Tower in Paris.

If it was built, it would have been more than double the size of Ireland’s current tallest building, Capital Dock, 63m taller than the Spire on Dublin’s O’Connell Street and similar in height to Seattle’s Space Needle and London’s Gherkin.

As part of their application, Renaissance Developments also outlined the scale of their plans to the Government at the time:

The attraction to Dublin of an observation tower would be considerable as it would give opportunities to visitors and residents alike to appreciate the fine bay around which the city is spread.
Not many cities can boast such an interesting relationship between city and bay. Most of the more well-known cities around the world have exploited this relationship, [but] Dublin has not.

30-mile views

The company planned to charge visitors £3 each to go to the top of the tower, where they would enjoy 30-mile views in all directions, and it was also intended to place video features and a souvenir shop at the observation level.

According to the company’s application, plans for the tower were originally submitted to Custom House Docks Development Authority (CHDDA) as part of the development of what is now the IFSC in the late 1980s.

Initially, Renaissance Developments proposed building the tower at Custom House Docks.

But by the time the company was applying to the EC for £17m in funding in 1989, it claimed it had held discussions to build at a number of (unspecified) locations on both sides of the river between the Custom House and the East Link Toll Bridge.

However, it said its preference was for a development near the IFSC, with the 22-acre Gas Company site, formerly at at the corner of Sir John Rogerson’s Quay and Cardiff Lane, singled out.

“It is considered that, while the view may be better as one approaches the mouth of the Liffey, a location within walking distance of O’Connell Street would be preferable,” the application read.

Slender build

Meanwhile, Renaissance Developments had a novel solution to the expected visual impact the Millennium Tower would have as a result of its height – a “slender” build.

The application read:

While it is appreciated that there will be some overshadowing as a result of the height of the tower, it is felt that because of its slenderness and its location on a docks site, this overshadowing will be limited.

It was further claimed that the plan had the support of Bord Fáilte, and that the tower would attract around 500,000 visitors a year, compared with 1.8m visitors the for CN Tower.

Possible sponsorship from Dublin Corporation, Bord Fáilte and the government were also mooted, although Renaissance Developments accepted that this may have been problematic given the economic environment at the time.

“The promoters believe that the employment, both direct and indirect, associated with the project, together with the economic impact of spin-off activities more than justify EC grants involved,” the company summarised.

“This project offers the opportunity to contribute to a really worthwhile monument to the country, both past and the future.

“The tower can be a symbol of the country’s energy and a statement of national pride and confidence. The promoters have a vision which is worthy of support.”

Ultimately, that vision was too pie in the sky. Renaissance Developments was subsequently dissolved in 1992.

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    Mute Peter B
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    Apr 28th 2021, 9:34 PM

    Archdiocese and children are two words that should not be in the same sentence.

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    Mute Ian Downes
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    Apr 28th 2021, 10:40 PM

    @Peter B: I was just going to comment that exact sentence. It’s incredible that the catholic church would be let anywhere near children, or women, or anyone at this stage.

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    Mute Barry Somers
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    Apr 29th 2021, 6:02 AM

    @Ian Downes: and yet people think it’s fine for them to run 90% of our schools.

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    Mute Derek Moran
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    Apr 28th 2021, 9:42 PM

    Honestly who would ever leave a child alone with a priest these days?

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    Mute sean o'dhubhghaill
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    Apr 28th 2021, 9:54 PM

    @Derek Moran: The vast, vast majority of priests were, and are, decent people. But, hell, a good generalisation makes a good soundbite.

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    Mute Mango mango
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    Apr 28th 2021, 9:57 PM

    @sean o’dhubhghaill: do you have children? And would you?

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    Mute Lorcan OReilly
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    Apr 28th 2021, 10:02 PM

    @sean o’dhubhghaill: really so the majority of them were speaking out against abuse and helping bring offenders to justice?

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    Mute Barry Somers
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    Apr 29th 2021, 6:06 AM

    @sean o’dhubhghaill: it doesn’t matter if the vast majority of them are decent.

    The organisation is rotten to the core.

    It was the Vatican who wrote the rules to move abusing priests to other parishes, it was the Vatican that wrote the rules about silencing victims, it is the Vatican that refuses to this day to release countless records to governments and the United nations.

    It was the Vatican who sent people over to a commission in Ireland and told victims they were lieing and only in it for the money.

    Imagine if the GAA did all this. What same person who deal with the GAA as a whole afterwards?

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    Mute Derek Moran
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    Apr 29th 2021, 7:32 AM

    @sean o’dhubhghaill: I used to look after the IT for a bunch of them. I’ve seen their viewing history. Let’s just say it doesn’t correspond with their teachings.

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    Mute Barry Somers
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    Apr 28th 2021, 9:50 PM

    Church can’t be bothered to compensate abuse victims, spending money on child protection is a low priority.

    They have the money, it’s just tied up in assets, mainly land which they won’t sell.

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    Mute Mango mango
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    Apr 28th 2021, 10:02 PM

    @Barry Somers: lay management companies have the money, they have it tied up on purpose. It really shows how much they care.

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    Mute Jukebox Jim
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    Apr 28th 2021, 9:45 PM

    Neighbourhood cat ‘committed to protecting mice’ despite slaughtering mice at every available opportunity…

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    Mute Bunny Johnson
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    Apr 29th 2021, 11:19 AM

    @Jukebox Jim: superb analogy!

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    Mute Robert Thomas
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    Apr 28th 2021, 10:28 PM

    “and monitors the activities of priests known to have abused children in the past in order to minimise the chance of them doing so again.”

    I know a better way to make sure it never happens again.

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    Mute Amanda Ui Fhaircheallaigh
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    Apr 28th 2021, 9:40 PM

    Surely, the archdiocese is half as committed as protecting children

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    Mute ÓDuibhír Abú
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    Apr 28th 2021, 10:16 PM

    @Amanda Ui Fhaircheallaigh: Wonder did ArchBishop take a pay cut.

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    Mute The only INFP in Ireland
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    Apr 28th 2021, 10:49 PM

    ‘moniters the activities of priests known to have abused children in the past in order to minimise the chance of them doing so again’ Is this a joke?!

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    Mute Paul Whitehead
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    Apr 29th 2021, 8:23 AM

    This staff cut certainly sends out the wrong message, though I expect the majority of comments here would be exactly the same if they had doubled the number of staff working in child protection.

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    Mute alan
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    Apr 29th 2021, 12:40 PM

    @Paul Whitehead: Using the analogy above, two cats looking after the mice isnt exactly better than one

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