Jimbo: Yes indeed. The buildings along the riverfront have somehow managed to escape the developers' greed, though they're of such poor quality that I can't help feeling anything would be an improvement. This sort of thing happened all too often during Dublin's less enlightened planing days when controls were much less stringent. The Docklands devlopement on the far side of the river is of a much higher standard.

Jimbo: The irony is that I actually worked for the architectural firm responsible. They're Keane Murphy Duff. When I joined Irish Life Assurance it was as architectural assistent to Ian Duff, who'd left KMD to move to Irish Life as architect in residence. George's Quay began as an Irish Life development, of course, and I had regular contact with the KMD team during construction. But I still don't like it!