An Bord Pleanála says it isn't broken. . .



. . .and the wreckovators aren't going to be allowed to fix it. St Colman's Cathedral in Cobh, that is. An Bord's decision and the relevant official documents can be found here.

The Bishop it seems wanted to gut the interior and turn it into a church-in-the-round sort of arrangement. A layman who takes a hammer to the Pietá is an obvious looney and gets locked away. A cleric who hires a team of jackhammers to have at a Pugin Cathedral, one of Ireland's finest 19th century Gothic examples, gets to remain a bishop. Nobody even asks the question. Just like Bishop Daly -- turn old St Mel's into a stone warehouse and get made an archbishop and a cardinal.

Lots of good commentary here and here, and an aerial picture of the exterior here. And one more, here.