There will be “significant” public transport and traffic disruption in Dublin from Tuesday to Friday next week as a result of two EU presidency meetings taking place in the city.
Members of the public have been asked to consider avoiding the city centre as there will be “very extensive road closures” and “extensive disruption” during those days.
A meeting of the European Political Community, to be attended by heads of state and government from across Europe, will take place on Thursday (November 12th) at the Convention Centre Dublin.
The event, the largest heads of state gathering Ireland has ever hosted, will also involve a formal dinner in the National Gallery of Ireland in the evening. There will be an informal meeting of EU leaders on Friday (November 13th) at the Convention Centre Dublin.
RM Block
There could be further disruption if a strike by public sector unions over the failure to agree a new public pay deal goes ahead on Thursday.
An Garda Síochána said the security operation around the European meetings would be “bigger than a US presidential visit” and the largest ever undertaken in the State. It will begin to ramp up from Tuesday.
“We have not seen a policing and security operation of this scale ever before in Ireland,” Supt Liam Geraghty, the chief Garda spokesman, told a briefing in Dublin.
He said there would need to be “significant traffic disruptions” to facilitate the “police and security operation”. The public are advised to leave extra time for journeys and to expect delays.
Geraghty did not comment on the specifics of the Garda operation, but significant military presences were seen at previous European Political Community meetings.
Rank-and-file gardaí will be working-to-rule, in an industrial action organised by the Garda Representative Association (GRA) from November 10th-14th.
Geraghty said Garda Commissioner Justin Kelly met the GRA earlier this week and talks were “ongoing” to ensure the security operation could go ahead.
From Tuesday morning, a security zone will be in force around the convention centre, with no cycling, walking or vehicular access permitted.
“This area will be completely sealed,” said Jennifer Gilna of the National Transport Authority.
The Mayor Square and Spencer Dock Luas stops will be closed during the events.
North Wall Quay, between Guild Street and New Wapping Street, will be closed to traffic and pedestrians from 7am on Tuesday until Friday evening, with east/west traffic being diverted from approach roads.
On Wednesday, a security cordon will be established around the National Gallery of Ireland from 7am, including barriers and parking restrictions.
Gilna suggested people coming into the city centre for non-mandatory reasons should examine whether they must do so that day. She said public transport would be “operational with significant disruptions” during the four-day period for those travelling for work.
Real-time information displays at bus stops in the city centre will be turned off as the NTA wants to avoid people “looking at real-time displays that say their bus is coming in nine minutes, and the bus stop has been moved”.
Gilna encouraged people to “leave much earlier” than they usually do to get to work or appointments, and to use the TII website to access real-time information.
[ Dublin’s noisiest locations: From a picturesque D4 road to a busy M50 junctionOpens in new window ]
A wider security cordon and extended traffic management cordon will be established around the convention centre from 8pm on Wednesday until Friday evening, with the Samuel Beckett Bridge closing to traffic.
Traffic movements will be restricted within an area bounded by Amiens Street, Seville Place/Sheriff Street Upper, East Wall Road and North Wall Quay. Residents and businesses will be permitted access, albeit with security checks.
From 7am until midnight on Thursday, a traffic management cordon will be established in the vicinity of the National Gallery of Ireland.
[ Is it the airport or the M50? No, it’s Sandymount’s Strand RoadOpens in new window ]
Traffic movements will be restricted within an area bounded by Baggot Street, Fitzwilliam Street, Merrion Square North, Clare Street and Kildare Street. There will be access to residents and businesses, with security checks taking place.
Additional traffic and parking restrictions will be implemented on roads within Dublin city centre in the vicinity of Merrion Square and the docklands from 7am until late on Thursday evening. Significant road closures can also be expected from 3pm to 7pm on Thursday.
Arrivals and departures for these events will take place at Dublin Airport and Casement Aerodrome.
Traffic restrictions will be in place at Dunbro, between the R108 and R122. Additional Garda patrols will be in place along perimeter roads of Dublin Airport.
[ Merrion Square tea room project faces review after development costs spiralOpens in new window ]
Perimeter roads to Casement Aerodrome will also be subject to additional Garda patrols and traffic restrictions.
The National Transport Authority said bus services would be diverted from the quays east of Custom House from November 10th to 13th. Stops and termini for buses in the Connolly Station area and southeast city centre will be affected.
From 8pm on Wednesday, Mayor Square and Spencer Dock Stops will be closed on the Luas red line. Bus services will be diverted from Merrion Square, and the Luas red line will not operate east of Busáras/Connolly on Thursday and Friday.
Dublin City Council advised commuters to use public transport, walk or cycle if possible and to minimise their car use as much as possible during this time.
