As a resident of Sandymount and a walker over the Irishtown Nature Park I often look up at the two chimneys at the ESB Poolbeg Power Station.

Sometimes when the clouds are low or if it’s raining the chimneys are obscured but often as not they’re dominant and contributing to carbon emissions and global warming.

They are difficult to miss and as the tallest structures in Dublin they are there to greet you as you fly into Dublin Airport and they appear over the horizon as you sail towards the city should one go by ferry.

They are painted with red and white hoops and are known locally as ‘the goalposts’. Recently, a petition set up on the internet with the support of Irish sculptor Patrick O’Reilly who hopes to see his idea realised, will have the Poolbeg chimneys competing with Paris’s Eiffel Tower, which lights up courtesy of 20,000 special strobe bulbs designed by the French Pierre Bideau company. www.petitiononline.com/poolbeg/petition.html.

The ESB plans to close the station by 2010 and the future of the stacks is unclear. Now Councillor Dermot Lacey of Labour has proposed a motion to the South East Area Committee to ‘take all steps necessary to protect the twin ESB chimneys at Poolbeg as part of our industrial heritage and to initiate steps to have them included on the list of protected structures’.

But this has been rejected by Dublin City Council officials who have told Councillors that they should not list the chimneys for preservation. They stated ‘Following a request from the South East Area Committee a report was prepared to assess the significance of the twin ESB chimneys at Poolbeg and whether the structures should be added to the Record of Protected Structures. A survey, history and full assessment was carried out. This concluded that while the Poolbeg chimneys are considered to be of a certain level of architectural, social and historical significance, they are not considered to be of sufficient value within the meaning of Part IV of the Planning and Development Act, 2000 and therefore should not be added to the Record of Protected Structures.’

Councilor Lacey told ‘NewsFour’ “We did not accept the report and asked the Manager to come back with measures that we could take short of a full listing. In my view the chimneys have become icons or emblems of Dublin and are often the first thing people see on returning home– particularly by sea. They are worth saving as part of our industrial heritage and should be examined as to the possibility of a viewing tower or a remote control periscope type system that would also allow people take photographs of the City.”

Fianna Fáil TD, Chris Andrews, has joined in the call to protect these chimneys saying “I am calling for an interim measure ensuring the protection of these iconic structures, now so familiar to all visiting and living in Dublin. The Council must ensure that they are not caught on the hop. A preservation order should be fast-tracked ensuring that these important structures are protected and I intend to raise this matter in the Dáil.”

“There have been a lot of changes occurring on the Poolbeg peninsula. Local residents, who are very fond of these landmarks, need to be reassured that they will not be taken away. Land is at a premium in this part of Dublin, it is imperative that we protect our heritage and social history,” he added.

The Poolbeg Chimneys

The modern Poolbeg ESB station was constructed in two separate phases, beginning in the 1960s. The ESB decided to construct the station in 1965 and the initial development was completed in 1971 with the construction of Units 1 and 2 at a cost of 20 million Irish pounds. The original Pidgeon House generators remained on standby duty until 1976. Unit 3 was completed in 1978 at a cost of 40 million pounds. The Polbeg ESB station chimneys are among the tallest structures in Ireland and are visible from most of Dublin city. Number 1 chimney is 207.48 (680ft 9in) high. Number 2 chimney is 207.8m (681ft 9in) high.