Dear U2,
Recently on Creighton Street I was approached by a young Japanese man and his friend who wanted to know the location of the famous U2 Windmill Lane Studio. I pointed across the road to the building site and said “It used to be there” and watched the disbelief on the young man’s face.
I explained where the exact entrance used to be and eventually escorted the two men to the spot. Another two tourists came hurrying across to hear what I had to say, which was not much, but they obviously thought it better than nothing.
Can’t you do better than this for your fans? I believe you are Freemen of Dublin City so why don’t you use your influence to have a temporary notice erected on the site – say even across the road – a notice for your fans to read and photograph?
The Japanese man bent down, reached under the wire fence, and picked up a stone as a memento of the site. He explained that he loved U2’s music and was so disappointed to see the studio where it all began demolished. I felt sorry for him; he was so disappointed.
Fans and tourists are arriving at the site in Windmill Lane – they deserve better than to have to photograph a building site. Perhaps the graffiti artists might paint a few notices like – ‘RIP Here lies the remains of the U2 Windmill Lane Studio. May it rise from the ashes’.
Yours sincerely,
Annie Losty Byrne,
1R Pearse House,
Hanover Street East,
Dublin 2
