MORE than 40 years after the suspected loyalist bombing of O'Connell Tower in Dublin's Glasnevin Cemetery, work is to begin on reopening a panoramic viewing platform at the top of the monument.
The rebuilding of a winding wooden staircase inside the pillar devoted to Daniel O'Connell - known as the The liberator - is the latest step in an overall renovation of the 168-foot landmark. It is expected to cost e 200,000 and
will re-establish the memorial as a major tourist attraction, offering visitors views - spanning from the Mourne Mountains in Co Down to Meath, Wick-low and ireland's Eye, and across the capital.
John Green, chairman of the Glasnevin Trust, said the refurbishment was a long-standing dream come true.
"The restoration of the stairs completes this task and will establish this iconic monument as one of the 'must do' visitor sites in Dublin," he said.
Funded by the public, O'Connell Tower was built between 1855 and 1869 to commemorate the Irish political leader who secured emancipation for Catholics, and greater rights and freedoms, in the 19th century. Loyalists are believed to have been behind a 1971 bomb attack on the monument.
Considered Ireland's national necropolis, Glasnevin Cemetery is the final resting place of many historical and famous figures.
Among them are Daniel O'Connell Michael Collins, Eamon de Valera, Jim Larkin, Padraig Pearse, Constance Markievicz, Brendan behan, Charles Stewart Parnell, Maud Gonne, Hannah Sheehy Skeffington and Luke Kelly.