Work on the Dublin Port Tunnel has left a "trail of destruction" in north central Dublin, a residents' group claimed today.
As the Minister for Transport, Mr Brennan, today heralded the breakthrough of the tunnel at Whitehall, the Marino Development Action Group claimed that 169 homes had been damaged by the underground works and that to date only 15 had been repaired.
"It's been hell on earth for local residents since the tunnelling began," the group's secretary, Mr Fintan Cassidy said.
"The noise, vibration, disruption and damage we have had to put up with, sometimes 24 hours a day over two-month periods has been indescribable," he continued.
Mr Cassidy said residents had experienced difficulties in getting project engineers and the Dublin City Council (DCC) to address their concerns, adding that nearly half the homes affected do not qualify for repair.
Homes inside what is known as the works' "zone of influence" will be repaired under the DCC's Building Structural Guarantee and the council has also indicated it will repair affected houses outside the zone.
But Mr Cassidy said experience suggests these householders "will have a long hard fight on their hands to have their homes restored to their pre-tunnel condition".
DCC last year accepted that some homes had been damaged by the work in Marino but said some cracks had already been present in houses before the tunnelling started.
Today's breakthrough marks the end of over two years of tunnelling linking the beginning of the M1 motorway with Dublin Port 4.5 km away.
The boring machine will now be dismantled and mechanical and electrical installation will begin with a completion date of autumn 2005.
Mr Brennan said it was the largest engineering project ever undertaken in Ireland. "This will dramatically improve conditions for pedestrians in the Dublin city centre and bring relief to communities and businesses around the city," he said.
Dublin City deputy engineer, Mr Tim Brick, described the breakthrough as "a significant engineering achievement."
The €715 million tunnel is intended to reduce travel times from the Dublin Port to the M1 and the M50 orbital motorway, diverting up to 9,000 heavy goods from the city centre.