Young people give their views on modern architecture in Dublin where the design of a building has caused controversy.
The campaign to preserve the site of Viking settlement at Dublin's Wood Quay was one of the most intense campaigns of public outcry on the subject of archaeological heritage in the history of the state.
Many who protested against the building of the Dublin Corporation Civic Offices on the site worried,
Their children were going grow up in a city fast losing any sense of history and tradition.
Another issue they saw was that old buildings were being demolished and replaced with architecturally controversial buildings.
Some secondary school students offer their opinions on two of Dublin's modern buildings, the Central Bank on Dame Street designed by architect Sam Stephenson, and the Dublin Corporation Civic Offices on Wood Quay. A common complaint about the Civic Offices is,
It ruins Christ Church.
The Central Bank proves divisive with opinion ranging from,
Its modernly built and it doesn't suit the area it's in.
To one pupil stating,
I enjoy looking at it.
Bernadette Gaines and Paul Brady from Liberties College Vocational Education Committee (VEC) visit buildings they like or dislike around Dublin city. Paul Brady is a fan of the Central Bank believing the design makes surrounding buildings stand out and that,
It's just different from all the other buildings around, you know, it looks great.
Bernadette Gaines loves the intricate architecture of Christ Church Cathedral but is not a fan of the Civic Ofices,
The building themselves aren't too band but they're just out of place besides Christchurch.
She would prefer to see them constructed,
In the middle of a field in Timbuktu.
This episode of 'Scratch Saturday' was broadcast on 9 December 1989. The reporter is Brian Reddin.
'Scratch Saturday' was a young people's programme which ran from the late 1980s to the 1990s. The series was presented by a team including Mary Kingston, Brian Graham, Brian Reddin, Teresa Smith and Andy Ruane.
