U2 Hotel Threatens Heritage

The planned £100 million extension of a hotel co-owned by Bono and The Edge is being opposed by conservationists who claim it’s a threat to Dublin’s heritage.

The proposal to add another 140 rooms to the 50-bedroom Clarence Hotel, under an extension that will have a glass roof in the shape of a Viking long boat, has drawn accusations that the co-owners have a "fetish for glamor."

They came in an open letter to Dublin City Council from Michael Smith, the former chairman of the An Taisce heritage group, and was published in Building Design magazine.

"The days of grateful fawnings over international – or in this case intergalactic – architecture on Dublin’s landmark sites should be over," it said.

The 19th-century hotel was bought by U2 in 1992. Adam Clayton and Larry Mullen, the other band members, have since sold their shares.