Tuesday, 5 June 2007

Spire cleaners get prime view of city

A TEAM of cleaners got a unique bird's eye view of the capital yesterday as work finally got under way to put the sparkle back on the Dublin Spire.

Armed with cloths and a special cleaning solution, the "grime-busters" mounted the soaring 400-foot landmark at daybreak yesterday from a massive 120-metre crane erected in the middle of O'Connell Street earlier at the weekend.

A City Council spokesman said the cleaning operation had been completed and was a success.

Lights

But he added that the German company which was doing the work, Hochtief Facility Management, may still decide to remove the lights which have not been working since the end of March.

He said it was hoped to have the lights back in place and operating by Thursday or Friday so the Spire can live up to its official title as the Monument of Light.

Yesterday's clean-up job is just part of the Spire's on-going maintenance programme which costs Dublin City Council more than €200,000 a year. Hochtief clean the first 12 metres of the structure every three months. But this marked the first time since its erection in 2003 that cleaners were able to tackle the job from the top.

Irish Independent

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