THE people of Cork can sleep easy in their beds as the ‘goldie fish’ overlooking the city is okay following repairs at the very top of the iconic Shandon Bell Tower.

A 70m crane was drafted in from the UK to assist metal workers to reaffix a loose piece of lead that had been shifted by high winds during recent storms.

Tower manager Marisa O'Mahony said the iconic goldie fish was unharmed and all is now secure at the top of the structure.

“The work was finished within four hours,” she said.

“It was a piece of lead that was coming loose from Storm Ophelia and the other storms. The lead is situated up at the dome at the top part under the fish. 

"One of those pieces was coming loose so they had to clip it back in place. Otherwise, it would have remained loose and water would have been getting in,” she said.

“Because of the height of it we considered scaffolding but the crane turned out to be a better option because it had to be 70 metres to get to the top,” she added.

Ms O'Mahony said Cork's most famous building is constantly under renovations to keep it in top condition and one of the clocks which has stopped will be fixed in the near future.

“We are always painting and restoring in the Church itself on the lower ground and the bells are not too bad. It's more cosmetic things that we need to do,” she said.

“City Council has some work to do on the clock as one is stopped at the moment and they are getting to that,” she added.

The repair work was managed by Cornerstone Construction. Height for Hire brought in the crane and Pat O'Leary Copper Sheetmetal on the Bandon applied repairs to the lead piece.

St Anne's Church was built in 1722 and contains red sandstone from the Shandon Castle. The bell tower contains eight bells and the famous weather vane shaped like a salmon represents the River Lee.