Achillhenge?

LETHAL LADY

Just watched Prime Time and quite enjoyed the Achillhenge segment, I think it may possibly become a lucrative tourist attraction for the island. It seems that it was not just thrown together and it has actually some acoustic merit (me hoop) or so the programme leads us to believe. So what say you, knock it down or advertise it for "The Gathering"?

Isolt

I liked your man 'throat singing'

LETHAL LADY

Isolt wrote: »

I liked your man 'throat singing'

That was brill, just blackguarded my cat with it, he was not impressed.

TheStook

I have literally no idea what Achillenge is. Should I feel bad?

RikkFlair

Ah **** I was on Achill last summer and forgot to check this "attraction" out

LordSutch

TheStook wrote: »

I have literally no idea what Achillenge is. Should I feel bad?

Don't feel bad, you're not alone . . .

Sounds like a modern day equivalent of a Victorian Folly, so lets call it a 'Post Celtic Tiger' Folly.

ben.schlomo

That Prime Time piece was like something id have expected Alan Partridge to have presented, i was half expecting them to just say it was a piss take at the end.

LETHAL LADY

ben.schlomo wrote: »

That Prime Time piece was like something id have expected Alan Partridge to have presented, i was half expecting them to just say it was a piss take at the end.

Me too, it was bizarre to say the least.

Fromthetrees

Wait for 20 year boyos and there be moss and the weeds growing all over the thing, we tell the rich Yanks that comeoverere that the thing was built be Cu Culainn himshelf and was bleshed by him and all that capper, we can sell them cheap tat for top dollar than, Mickie, getanuder round in dere, we have a good thing comin'.

Pottler

It's all good, it has the same type of planning permission they got for Newgrange.

TheStook

Fromthetrees wrote: »

Wait for 20 year boyos and there be moss and the weeds growing all over the thing, we tell the rich Yanks that comeoverere that the thing was built be Cu Culainn himshelf and was bleshed by him and all that capper, we can sell them cheap tat for top dollar than, Mickie, getanuder round in dere, we have a good thing comin'.

I read this in a Hector accent for some reason? It fits in fairness

irishgeo

ben.schlomo wrote: »

That Prime Time piece was like something id have expected Alan Partridge to have presented, i was half expecting them to just say it was a piss take at the end.

Not many locals willing to speak in public about it.

The local nickname on the other hole in the ground in keel is ground zero.

Wibbs

Pottler wrote: »

It's all good, it has the same type of planning permission they got for Newgrange.

About the same amount of concrete and invention too.

Pottler

irishgeo wrote: »

Not many locals willing to speak in public about it.

The local nickname on the other hole in the ground in keel is ground zero.

Which is fair enough, seeing as they were both products of a big boom.

ben.schlomo

irishgeo wrote: »

Not many locals willing to speak in public about it.

The local nickname on the other hole in the ground in keel is ground zero.

Bar the lad with the Guinness talking absolute nonsense in the pub and the councillor who looked like one of the village people minus a hat, what the fook was with his tache!!!

squod

We should advertise ''Copperminge'' the traditional hunting ground of young pissed up culchies visiting Dublin.

Kichote

I have good intentions to pay a visit to Achillhenge one day. To hell with all the boring law and order folk who want it pulled down 'just to discourage other people from building something without planning permission

Plazaman

Didn't see Primetime but I thought there was a demolition order placed on it by the courts?

Anyway it's crying out for a concrete floor and an Orchestra in the middle of it. Cha Ching!!!!

conorhal

Kichote wrote: »

I have good intentions to pay a visit to Achillhenge one day. To hell with all the boring law and order folk who want it pulled down 'just to discourage other people from building something without planning permission

I'll never understand this weird Irish 'shure didn't he stick it to de man, the boyo him!' nonsense.
Only in this morally bankrupt nation could we have a sneeking regard for property developers that build substandard crap without planning permission, regard for fire safety (priory Hall) or the fact that a listed building used to sit on that site until it 'accidentally fell down one bank holiday weekend'.
It's sympathy for the Devil so it is....

irishgeo

ben.schlomo wrote: »

Bar the lad with the Guinness talking absolute nonsense in the pub and the councillor who looked like one of the village people minus a hat, what the fook was with his tache!!!

The councillor was from WestPort.

nacimroc

Leave it up! In years we will look back and remember how mental things were.

LordSutch

It needs to be dismantled, taken down and removed, and the landsacpe returned to the way it was (pre being defaced).

The whole episode makes Ireland look like a joke (to outsiders)! How could any one person be allowed to just build a massive
concrete structure on such a large scale, without the authorities stepping in and calling a halt to the construction

And now that its there, why the delay in removing it? People will say "Only in Ireland", and what a waste of good concrete.

PULL IT DOWN AND REMOVE IT.

ben.schlomo

irishgeo wrote: »

The councillor was from WestPort.

Whats that got to do with how odd he looked? Do all Westport-ians look like that? If so then surely that would be a greater tourist attraction.

gobnaitolunacy

It is of no historical, architectural, or aesthetic merit whatsoever.

It's a fugly bunch of concrete slabs FFS which I don't think too many tourists will go out of their way to see.
Whoever put that piece of sh*t up should be forced to take it down at his own cost.

yeppydeppy

I would say the majority of locals want to get rid of it and return the landscape to its natural beauty - as per the law. However, I would also say most people are afraid to speak out due to the violent nature of some members of family involved. "Ground zero" as it is called in Keel is a disgrace, he went ahead with the deveopment without planning permission, was refused permission and left this eye sore for the locals and tourists sitting there for years. He then wastes who knows how many thousands (if not hundreds of thousands) on this concrete monstrosity - why didn't he spend that money tidying up the Keel site or pay it back to Anglo (which is now us)?

yeppydeppy

gobnaitolunacy wrote: »

It is of no historical, architectural, or aesthetic merit whatsoever.

It's a fugly bunch of concrete slabs FFS which I don't think too many tourists will go out of their way to see.
Whoever put that piece of sh*t up should be forced to take it down at his own cost.

There is a court order in place for him to remove it at his own cost but as he is now hiding in the UK, working as a subbie, I doubt he'll ever do it. It's up to the council but sure they probably don't have the money either.

gobnaitolunacy

yeppydeppy wrote: »

There is a court order in place for him to remove it at his own cost but as he is now hiding in the UK, working as a subbie, I doubt he'll ever do it. It's up to the council but sure they probably don't have the money either.

And some shmoe in Co Limerick got jail recently for installing a couple of windows (which didn't look too bad) without PP. One law for the rich....

Guill

I think it's art. To me it shows how during the boom we tried to replace old Ireland with a modern concrete one and how this was not always pretty and not always better. It also reflect how buildings popped up in places they shouldn't have due to bad planning practices. Let it stand, long live Achill Henge!

RayCon

It's an ugly piece of crap that needs to be pulled down and the area returned to it's former natural state.

Anybody else find it weird that at the end of the piece Miriam O'Callaghan said something along the lines of "Mark Coughlan reporting there from Achill ... beautifully shot by our own .............. (didn't catch the name).

I thought it a bit strange to single out a camera man's input into the piece

irishgeo

ben.schlomo wrote: »

Whats that got to do with how odd he looked? Do all Westport-ians look like that? If so then surely that would be a greater tourist attraction.

I was pointing out the fact he is not from Achill and therefore not a local.

yeppydeppy wrote: »

I would say the majority of locals want to get rid of it and return the landscape to its natural beauty - as per the law. However, I would also say most people are afraid to speak out due to the violent nature of some members of family involved. "Ground zero" as it is called in Keel is a disgrace, he went ahead with the deveopment without planning permission, was refused permission and left this eye sore for the locals and tourists sitting there for years. He then wastes who knows how many thousands (if not hundreds of thousands) on this concrete monstrosity - why didn't he spend that money tidying up the Keel site or pay it back to Anglo (which is now us)?

He also has a huge mansion with no Planning unfinished, which has a garage with a turntable for the turning the car around. :rolleyes:

yeppydeppy wrote: »

There is a court order in place for him to remove it at his own cost but as he is now hiding in the UK, working as a subbie, I doubt he'll ever do it. It's up to the council but sure they probably don't have the money either.

He is back often enough as he climbs croach patrick every year and plays the in the locla pipie bands.

Mitch Buchannon

gobnaitolunacy wrote: »

It is of no historical, architectural, or aesthetic merit whatsoever.

It's a fugly bunch of concrete slabs FFS which I don't think too many tourists will go out of their way to see.
Whoever put that piece of sh*t up should be forced to take it down at his own cost.

I totally agree. I was camping in Achill with friends during the summer and poped up to have a look. I was disgusted :mad:. The príck that built it should be forced to take it down and restore the ground to the way it was.

http://binged.it/10ep4WQ
It shows up on Bing maps.

I think it should be taken down and the rubble used to fill the hole in Keel.

Pottler

gobnaitolunacy wrote: »

It is of no historical, architectural, or aesthetic merit whatsoever.

It's a fugly bunch of concrete slabs FFS which I don't think too many tourists will go out of their way to see.
Whoever put that piece of sh*t up should be forced to take it down at his own cost.

It will be in 200 years time though. When Mad Jim McCabe was putting up Stonehenge, all the neighbours came over and said it was even madder than the time he drew a huge big white horse out on the side of a hill. Who's laughing now? Eh? Eh? Ok, Jims dead and not laughing much, but ye get the point.

gobnaitolunacy

Pottler wrote: »

It will be in 200 years time though. When Mad Jim McCabe was putting up Stonehenge, all the neighbours came over and said it was even madder than the time he drew a huge big white horse out on the side of a hill. Who's laughing now? Eh? Eh? Ok, Jims dead and not laughing much, but ye get the point.

In 200 years time, it'll still be a fcuk ugly collection of concrete slabs, no more, no less. (hopefully it will have been removed or crumbled away by then)

Who owns the land that its built on? I presume it will fall into the hands of a receiver, if it hasn't already, who will simply follow the law. It would be a poison chalice I suppose as it will cost much more money to sort out than the land would ever be worth. My priority would be to fix the eyesore in Keel (ground zero) before tackling this thing.

nacimroc

Lets just tell the Americans that if they look through it on a sunny 21st of December from a certain angle, they can see...narnia! The sun will never be out that day so nobody will ever find out!

Pottler

gobnaitolunacy wrote: »

In 200 years time, it'll still be a fcuk ugly collection of concrete slabs, no more, no less. (hopefully it will have been removed or crumbled away by then)

If they bothered their holes landscaping and backfilling around it, it's no more ugly than most of the other state sanctioned "art installations". How hard would it be for the govt to get in a digger and fill the excavation back in and leave the circle? Not hard at all. How hard would it be to knock it? Quite hard actually. And expensive. I do this sh1t for a living btw. Landscape it and leave it as a monument to a period in time. Hardly worse than some needle jutting out of our main thoroughfare.

irishgeo

Pottler wrote: »

If they bothered their holes landscaping and backfilling around it, it's no more ugly than most of the other state sanctioned "art installations". How hard would it be for the govt to get in a digger and fill the excavation back in and leave the circle? Not hard at all. How hard would it be to knock it? Quite hard actually. And expensive. I do this sh1t for a living btw. Landscape it and leave it as a monument to a period in time. Hardly worse than some needle jutting out of our main thoroughfare.

Can't see it being that hard to knock. All the lifting eyes are still on the slabs. A Mobile crane would have it down in a few hours.

Pottler

irishgeo wrote: »

Can't see it being that hard to knock. All the lifting eyes are still on the slabs. A Mobile crane would have it down in a few hours.

mmm, at €1700 a day plus ferry....and reinforced concrete tends to not fall too handy... I had a bit to do with the pier on Clare Island, and whatever it cost on the mainland, triple it..

kippy

Pottler wrote: »

mmm, at €1700 a day plus ferry....and reinforced concrete tends to not fall too handy... I had a bit to do with the pier on Clare Island, and whatever it cost on the mainland, triple it..

You're not that familiar with Achill are you?
There is a bridge onto the Island so no Ferry costs.

Ultimately this is an illegal structure and needs to be torn down, and the eyesore in the middle of Keel rectified. One job can assist the other. If the council have machinery to sort out the henge, the same machinery can be used to sort out the major health and safety issue/eyesore in Keel.

There is no way in hell the the developer will remove the Henge himself.

LordSutch

Would love it if some local farmer with the balls (and a tractor) attached a rope to some of the capping stones and pulled them down in the middle of the night! > this might then spring the council into action to have the rest of the concrete block 'Folly' removed - and the area returned to its natural state.

Call me Al

Have to agree re. McNamara not taking this down. He clearly planned this for a long time in advance. He will drag this out for as long as he can and he will still not lift a finger to knock it.
And as for the Keel pit, it looks absolutely awful and has been sitting there for years. People are trying to live with it around their houses, literally a couple of metres from their back doors, and it is so dangerous. I can't see why, in all these years, mayo co co haven't had to come and fill it in.

kippy

Call me Al wrote: »

Have to agree re. McNamara not taking this down. He clearly planned this for a long time in advance. He will drag this out for as long as he can and he will still not lift a finger to knock it.
And as for the Keel pit, it looks absolutely awful and has been sitting there for years. People are trying to live with it around their houses, literally a couple of metres from their back doors, and it is so dangerous. I can't see why, in all these years, mayo co co haven't had to come and fill it in.

I cant understand why the site in Keel has been like that for so long either. Must be 7 odd years at this point. Surely there are health and safety implications, never mind the aesthetic side of it. Do the council own the site at this point or is it gone to the banks/NAMA?

Ed Winchester

What is the "pit" in Keel? Has anyone got an pics?

Pottler

There's a bridge??? Feck. runs off to hide... I thought achill was remote(wondered how he got the readymix there, bets he used 40n to thwart the knockers)...goes a bit red...jasus..

kippy

Ed Winchester wrote: »

What is the "pit" in Keel? Has anyone got an pics?

There is a picture here:
http://www.google.ie/imgres?um=1&hl=en&sa=N&tbo=d&biw=1639&bih=771&tbm=isch&tbnid=fLq2814I3RxIXM:&imgrefurl=http://www.politics.ie/forum/current-affairs/176691-achill-henge-joe-mcnamara-s-latest-stunt.html&docid=P49hDQCLhcjawM&imgurl=http://img51.imageshack.us/img51/5034/keeld.jpg&w=800&h=437&ei=4QfuUK3CC4yRhQf9-4CYDw&zoom=1&iact=rc&dur=4&sig=112888548563851349169&page=1&tbnh=142&tbnw=266&start=0&ndsp=30&ved=1t:429,r:2,s:0,i:92&tx=192&ty=60

(sorry about the link)
The site used to be a pub called "The Village Inn" and it's car park. It's been like that for a number of years (6 or 7 I would guess at this stage)

kippy

Pottler wrote: »

There's a bridge??? Feck. runs off to hide... I thought achill was remote(wondered how he got the readymix there, bets he used 40n to thwart the knockers)...goes a bit red...jasus..

Yep, various versions of it here:
https://www.google.ie/search?q=achill+island+bridge&hl=en&tbo=u&tbm=isch&source=univ&sa=X&ei=ewjuUNC8C8S6hAfm4oCgAw&ved=0CDkQsAQ&biw=1639&bih=771

Ed Winchester

kippy wrote: »

There is a picture here:
http://www.google.ie/imgres?um=1&hl=en&sa=N&tbo=d&biw=1639&bih=771&tbm=isch&tbnid=fLq2814I3RxIXM:&imgrefurl=http://www.politics.ie/forum/current-affairs/176691-achill-henge-joe-mcnamara-s-latest-stunt.html&docid=P49hDQCLhcjawM&imgurl=http://img51.imageshack.us/img51/5034/keeld.jpg&w=800&h=437&ei=4QfuUK3CC4yRhQf9-4CYDw&zoom=1&iact=rc&dur=4&sig=112888548563851349169&page=1&tbnh=142&tbnw=266&start=0&ndsp=30&ved=1t:429,r:2,s:0,i:92&tx=192&ty=60

(sorry about the link)
The site used to be a pub called "The Village Inn" and it's car park. It's been like that for a number of years (6 or 7 I would guess at this stage)

Cheers for that, I used to go to Achill a lot. Haven't been in three years or so, can't believe that is still like that.

Pete M.

May it stand for a thousand years!!

Went up there and tagged it with my two kids last summer :cool:

And for those fretting about the landscape etc. it's in a hole on the side of a hill and you can't see it until you're nearly in it.

It may have been done by a dodgy geezer, for all the wrong reasons and be 'inappropriate' but it is more profound a piece of inadvertent art than a lot of what generally passes.

kippy

Pete M. wrote: »

May it stand for a thousand years!!

Went up there and tagged it with my two kids last summer :cool:

And for those fretting about the landscape etc. it's in a hole on the side of a hill and you can't see it until you're nearly in it.

It may have been done by a dodgy geezer, for all the wrong reasons and be 'inappropriate' but it is more profound a piece of inadvertent art than a lot of what generally passes.

It's the precedent it sets that causes the problem in my opnion.