The Bridge in Ireland inspired by a Harp

I've always been quite cynical about the idea that the Calatrava bridge at Macken Street was inspired by a harp. How fitting?! How handy! The harp is a native symbol of Ireland. Strings are cables. And curved steel can imitate curved carved wood.
Santiago Calatrava has designed other bridges in similar style:

• Serreria Bridge in Valenica, Spain
• Footbridge Puerto Mujer, Buenos Aires, Argentina
• Light Rail Train Bridge, Jerusalem, Israel
• Katehaki Bridge, Athens, Greece
• Sundial Bridge at Turtle Bay, California, USA
• an early design for the Alamillo Bridge, Seville, Spain

But today, listening to Morning Ireland on Radio One, I was alerted to Love:Live Music day. One of the many free performances involved 12 harpists, strewn across the bridge playing music.
When I arrived at lunchtime today (thankfully) there was no strew-ing. On the south-side, there was a cluster of harpists strumming Carolan tunes harmoniously. And I thought (I love Carolan's music) that perhaps this connection might not be a bad thing... and might possibly, I conceded, be intentional. Because the Beckett bridge does join the mast and the flat bridge at a particularly graceful angle and the steel given a particular design treatment at this point.
However, I am far from convinced - mostly because a harp on its side is a daft symbol!
Similarly, the bridge in Greece claims to be inspired by Athenian sailboats - perhaps part of the designer's charm is making these tenuous links between a generic, international bridge design and the native culture.I've tried rotating an image of the bridge and comparing it to a harp - the most noticeable difference/mismatch is that the strings on a harp run from the flat towards the top which is concave. If we are to look at the cables on the bridge running from the flat - they go towards a convex curve.
Too much analysis always spoils the fun so I'll finish by admiring the heavy steel at the base of the mast again - that shape and angle and mould and curve does bring a harp to mind.

Calatrava's Dublin Bridge #2 arrives in Dublin

I missed it!! I was away for the weekend and not up to scratch on the goings-on in Dublin. The second of Calatrava's bridges arrived into the Liffey yesterday. It was sitting outside the East Link Bridge in Dublin port since Monday, waiting for ideal tidal and wind conditions.
Apparently, the opening of the East Link was only just wide enough to let the bridge (at a particular point) pass through and so the tide had to be at its highest point.
I wrote an article about the two bridge designs in Blianiris, an Irish language publication in 2004. It almost felt like a friend I hadn't seen in a while had returned again when I saw the bridge coming into the city on the news yesterday.
The bridge is moored in the Liffey and will be anchored in place in June. I mustn't miss that date!