The Bloomsday demolition of a 1930s neo-classical factory in Dublin took place just three days after An Bord Pleanala said it should be retained.
Artist James Hanley had successfully appealed against the Collen Group's plans to replace the landmark Wiggins Teape building on the East Wall Road with an office development. A member of the Department of Foreign Affairs' Cultural Relations Committee, he said yesterday he was "in shock" over its bulldozing.
Contacted yesterday, Mr Martin Glynn, a director of the Collen Group, was not prepared to discuss the demolition. He had earlier told RTE that the company was "perfectly within its rights" to do what it did, as the building was unlisted and "dangerous".
Built in 1931 for the Gallaher tobacco company, it was designed by Belfast architect John Stevenson. He was also responsible for Boland's Bakery on Lower Grand Canal Street, which is now the Treasury Building.
Mr Hanley, who was recently commissioned to paint a portrait for Leinster House of the Taoiseach, Mr Ahern, said it was particularly ironic that "another significant part of Dublin's 20th century culture" had been obliterated on Bloomsday.
The demolition work got under way at about 7.30 a.m. on Saturday and the building was gone by lunchtime. In its ruling on his appeal against Dublin Corporation's decision in April 2000 to grant permission for an office development on the site, the board upheld Mr Hanley's view that the building was of architectural and historical significance.
It said the demolition of its East Wall Road frontage would "detract significantly" from the streetscape, would "seriously injure the amenities of the area" and would be contrary to the corporation's policy of encouraging the re-use of existing unlisted buildings.
The board's ruling, issued on June 13th, also said that the proposed office development would be "out of character" and "excessively dominant" in relation to the low-rise housing in the area and would, therefore, "seriously injure" residential amenities.
The third reason given for refusing permission related to the scale and extent of car parking provision on the site, which the board said would conflict with the policy of the Dublin Transportation Office to promote alternative forms of transport for office uses.
Mr Shane O'Toole, Irish representative of DOCOMOMO, the international organisation dedicated to protecting 20th century architecture, said the demolition highlighted another loophole in the planning laws.
He called on the Minister for the Environment, Mr Dempsey, to introduce an urgent amendment to the Planning Act 2000 to ensure that when the appeals board issues a similar decision in future it would be treated as a notification to list the building involved.
