A “300-tonne crane”, rope-climbing access and a mounted platform have all been considered by Dublin City Council in an effort to remove a Palestinian flag attached to the Spire for the past seven months.

The flag, first spotted near the top of the 120-metre O’Connell Street landmark in September, could still be seen billowing on Sunday, albeit somewhat tangled in the hoop used to attach it.

No individual or group has claimed responsibility for the flag’s placement on the Spire, officially called the Monument of Light. The council has been considering an array of options to remove it since it was first spotted. These include “climbing the Spire” using rope access equipment, according to internal correspondence seen by The Irish Times.

Also considered was a vehicle-mounted access platform to reach the “highest level possible” of the 120m monument to remove the flag. This would entail a “bespoke ladder” being used to bridge the gap between the platform and flag.

However, a senior council engineer informed other council officials that access specialists were not comfortable pursuing those options due to the risks involved.

“They told us that they would only consider an option involving a mobile crane and a basket,” he said in correspondence obtained under the Freedom of Information Act.

A proposal prepared by engineering and maintenance contractor Interact Services detailed how the use of a mobile crane would allow an engineer to access the flag without having to climb the Spire.

The “300-tonne crane” would elevate a “man basket” carrying an engineer inside to reach and remove the flag attached some 101m above ground level.

The operation would be carried out during night-time hours, likely at about 2am, to minimise disruption to traffic, businesses and pedestrians in the city centre, according to the proposal passed on to officials last November.

It would require a traffic management plan, including a lane closure of the southbound side of O’Connell Street, alongside temporary crowd control barriers across both lanes.

[ ‘No methodology’ for removing Palestinian flag ‘dropped’ on to Dublin’s SpireOpens in new window ]

The associated cost of the operation contained within the proposal was redacted by the council.

The council was asked whether it had yet made a decision on the proposal to use the crane. It had not responded by the time of publication.

However, the senior council engineer argued the “cost and disruption” associated with the use of a crane to remove the flag would be “disproportionate to the issue”.

“There’s also the fact that someone could just come along again and drop another flag on the Spire,” he said in correspondence with other officials.

“We have probably taken the options for accessing the Spire from the ground up as far as we can at this stage.”