Seán O Laoire would be outstanding in the job and so would any of the following people: Yvonne Farrell or Shelley McNamara, of Grafton Architects; Gerry Cahill; Derek Tynan; Niall McCullough; Michael McGarry or Niall McLaughlin.

The most obvious requirements for Barrett's successor include leadership, exceptional communication skills, strong vision, possibly expert in design/research, but mostly the very best available candidate, which may not happen if it is not properly set up as an opportunity.

So before the post is even advertised, the job description should be reviewed and international models examined by a working group that could include Dublin City Council, the Department of the Environment, the RIAI and the Irish Architecture Foundation.

If it was advertised internationally, there could be interest from the large Irish architectural community living abroad.

Unfortunately, architects here are still trained to focus on buildings as isolated objects, without spatial, social, political or cultural context.

Few in the private sector may be interested in a job which essentially requires that one steps back from the drawing board to enter another world and wade through the politico-bureaucratic swamp where all the critical decisions are made about the things that surround us.