DUBLIN A planned £100 million extension to an hotel co-owned by Bono and The Edge, of the rock band U2, faces opposition after accusations that it would threaten the heritage of Dublin.

The musicians want to increase the size of the 50-bedroom Clarence Hotel into a five-star venue with 140 extra rooms and a glass roof in the shape of a Viking long boat, designed by Lord Foster of Thames Bank. But in a letter to Dublin city council, published in the magazine Building Design, Michael Smith, the former chairman of the heritage group An Taisce, accused Bono and his co-owners of having a “fetish for glamour”. “The days of grateful fawnings over international – or in this case intergalactic – architecture on Dublin’s landmark sites should be over,” he wrote.

The 19th-century hotel was bought by U2 in 1992. Adam Clayton and Larry Mullen, the other band members, later sold their stake. The hotel has reportedly made a loss of €12 million (£8 million).

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