Transport

Dublin homeowners fear ‘catastrophic’ damage to houses under Metrolink terminus plans

Dartmouth Square West resident says ground movement would negatively impact Victorian-era dwellings

An artist's impression of the proposed entrance to the Charlemont Metrolink station. Photograph: Metrolink.ie

Fiachra Gallagher
Tue Mar 5 2024 - 21:22

Dartmouth Square homeowners have appealed to An Bord Pleanála to halt Transport Infrasture Ireland’s (TII) proposal to build a Metrolink terminus station at nearby Charlemont, claiming that the current plans would cause “catastrophic” damage to houses on the Victorian square.

Leo Crehan, a chartered civil engineer and resident of Dartmouth Square West, asked An Bord Pleanála at a planning hearing on Tuesday to remove the Charlemont station from the approved Metrolink plans on account of the damage that could be caused to houses on Dartmouth Square.

Mr Crehan noted the contributions of a structural engineer to a previous An Bord Pleanála hearing, who, Mr Crehan said, claimed that the construction of the terminus station could cause catastrophic damage to the houses of Dartmouth Square, potentially rendering them unsuitable for living in. The level of ground movement predicted by TII would cause significant damage, he said, taking into account the age and nature of houses built on Dartmouth Square.

“The applicant has completely has completely ignored this inconvenient truth, with its catastrophic consequences on the adjoining houses, and has carried on blindly with a proposal to build a station,” he said.

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He said the houses on Dartmouth Square were “not ordinary houses”, given that Dublin City Council designates them as protected structures.

“The station does not have to be in a location where the consequences of construction are such that it could cause catastrophic damage to protected structures of an architectural conservation area,” he said.

“These planning designation are not given lightly. They have been given for good reason: to prevent acts of architectural vandalism by property owners, developers and state agencies,” he said. “Why are we here, debating whether it is acceptable to allow development which could destroy a terrace of protected structures?”

In appealing to An Bord Pleanála to drop the Charlemont station, Mr Crehan invoked the demolition of 16 Georgian buildings on Fitzwilliam Street in the 1960s to make way for a purpose built office block to headquarter the ESB.

“We urge you not to let Charlemont Dartmouth Square become another ESB Fitzwilliam Street in the annals of Irish planning shame,” he said. He asked for the station at Charlemont to be removed from the approved plans.

The 18.8km Metroklink rail line is planned to run from north of Swords to Dublin Airport, then on to Ballymun, Glasnevin, O’Connell Street and St Stephen’s Green before terminating at Charlemont, with 16 stations along the route.

The journey from Swords to Dublin city will take approximately 25 minutes. The project is currently estimated to cost €9.5 billion.

John Conway, a resident of Dartmouth Square, told the hearing that if TII is allowed to implement its plans for the rail system as it stands, the west side of the Victorian square “will not survive” and the integrity of the square as a whole will be “hugely compromised”.

The extent of the disturbance that he faces has prompted Mr Conway to consider selling his Dartmouth Square property, he said.

“I urge An Bord Pleanála to recognise the unsuitability of Charlemont as a terminus,” he said.

In response, Jennifer Harmon, a noise and vibration expert for TII, said that the authority has “considered noise impacts very carefully”, and has allowed for “quite a number of control measures to try and reduce that impact”.

Fiachra Gallagher

Fiachra Gallagher

Fiachra Gallagher is an Irish Times journalist

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