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IF YOU’VE FLOWN into Dublin Airport recently, you may have found yourself wondering why your options out are limited to the ground.
Taxi, buses and private cars are generally the only way to get from the country’s main airport and the capital city.
Though the airport is served by almost 700 buses and hundreds of taxis daily, the lack of a rail link is noticeable.
It wasn’t supposed to be like this, however.
In the last decade, there was actually a competition to supply a rail link to the airport.
Both have been postponed, ostensibly due to a lack of funding, but a National Transport Authority review of the entire north Dublin area that is due to get underway could put the issue back in the spotlight.
The two leading options are Metro North and the Dart extension.
Metro North
As part of the overall Metro system, the North plan would have seen the airport and city just 20 minutes apart – a Godsend for anyone who has navigated their way through Drumcondra on their way to catch a flight.
Metro is still technically planned (albeit having been suspended in 2011), but its omission from a 2013 National Transport Authority report on public transport in the capital means that if not buried, the plan is on life-support.
Phase 1 was due to be delivered in 2010, with the very last phase, linking Blanchardstown to Ballymun due to be ready this month.
In 2010, it was announced the system wouldn’t be ready until 2019 at the earliest, before Leo Varadkar suspended the plan in 2011. It was indicated earlier this year, again by Varadkar, that the plan would be part of the NTA review.
The Rail Procurement Agency (RPA) hoped the line would carry 35 million passengers a year, help create 37,000 jobs and take 120 million kilometres of car journeys off the roads.
A stop would have been placed within walking distance of both terminals in the airport and trains would have arrived every two minutes.
It was slated to cost €2.5 billion, or €138 million per kilometre of track.
Dart extension
Íarnród Éireann say their plan would be cheaper, less disruptive and more beneficial to the country.
They want to take the existing Dart line and construct a “spur” at Clongriffin. From there, the line would go into a station built beside the airport’s church.
The rail company says that the project could see a significant increase in passengers on the DART system and that fare revenue would cover operating costs, meaning no operational subsidy required.
They also argue that if it, and the also postponed Dart Underground, were built, passengers could get trains directly from Cork, Galway, Kilkenny, Limerick and Waterford to Dublin Airport.
A spokesperson told TheJournal.ie that the company remains committed to the plan, saying that its implementation would make Ireland compliant with EU law.
They are hopeful that the NTA will recommend their plan, which would see trains leaving every 15 minutes.
A local councillor last year said that residents would prefer the Metro plan.
Dublin Airport
A Dublin Airport Authority spokesperson says that they have safeguarded the site for a station, but they have no preference on which option is picked.
They point out that the road links to the airport, and the provision of parking, are of a high level.
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The Oberstown staff member was extremely seriously badly injured by a savage assault by several inmates….yet his injuries were stressed by the media inc. the journal as accidental…is the journal part of the cover up for Pat Bergin and Mr Zappone?
Management appear to be an absolute joke. Complex is ridiculous understaffed. This all falls at the feet of Bergin and Zappone. Staff need support
It was Zappone that made the inmates roam the halls while the strike was on. There was originally an agreement to keep them on lock down for the 8 hours but no, the poor darlings couldn’t do that… you have 8 17 year olds in a wing with 2 staff all out loose what do you think is gonna happen… idiocy from the left wing liberal politicians as always
All staff should go sick, place not fit for purpose. Send army in to pamper the vulnerable youths.
The staff highlighted their concerns long before the new build took place. Then after completing the buildings the flaws in construction and unsuitable design were highlighted. All of this was dismissed and finally the absence of any planning or retraining prior to admitting older lads was a cause of great concern to the staff on the floor. Now the chickens are finally coming home to roost.
Nobody should go back to work in that place. Another major f××ch up by the powers that be and they are in damage limitation mode big time.
Well said
The Oberstown staff are on the cusp of an entirely correct and overdue reorientation of priorities in the arena of delinquency/social care/youth detention/juvenile criminality/special care/employment law/human rights/health and safety and about 79 other pertinent and relevent fields…..hopefully they will continue to maintain the moral high ground and pursue natural justice…their cause is just and necessary.
The staff there need to be fully supported and resourced. They have to endure verbal and physical abuse from these scrotes who are pampered by the bleeding heart do gooders. If they set the fire, let them burn l say.
I’m sure as the poor unfortunate staff member undergoes plastic surgery to try and achieve a better outcome from his head injuries that he will be forever ‘grateful’ for the good wishes from Professor Kilkelly and delighted to hear that school has resumed and the ‘children’ are back to being tucked in, after all it is essential to ensure that the care ethos of the Campus is protected.”, never mind if a staff member is under going surgery, trauma and psychological stress caused by the dear ‘children’, nobody mention the violence, you know how it upsets the little dears, anyone for playstation games, watching tv, pizza anyone….
Honeybee…..your sarcasm has a new admirer…..
I guess Peter when you see frontline staff like this poor man or the garda who was hit in the head with a hammer, well, you have to wonder what in Gods name are those in charge doing to punish the perpetrators and the reality is nothing what so ever with the result these young thugs think they are invincible and are laughing at the academic charades of the justice system, as soon as they are released they will pick up where they left off. unfortunately that is the reality, why they even tried to burn the detention center down. just hope the staff member recovers but it will affect him something awful whenever he returns to work , not the kind of thing you can brush off, poor man.
“an extremely difficult few days”….a few? 2 ? 4 ? What does difficult mean? Getting your head kicked around by 2-4 criminals or the canteen soup being a little salty? Lets be honest here…….
close the place and house the animals in proper prisons
Not the solution. Empower the care staff who live in fear of management. Give them the tools to do their job. And finally update the long out of date Standards and Criteria for Children Detention Schools.
To ensure the care ethos is protected ? Eh the hugs and the molly coddling ain’t working! Give more control to the staff and stop this ridiculous carry on . They are not residents, they’re prisoners and should be treated as such ..
“Professor” Kilkelly. And that folks is the root of the problem in Oberstown. The board of management is made up of Academics and Social Warriors. People with Zero practical experience of dealing with violent criminals.
Staffing levels are only part of the issue. The whole centre has been hijacked. Built as a low security unit for young offenders the minister thought it would be great to add 16 and upwards as well. Staff are continually locked in physical confrontations with these animals but the European commission on human rights feels a 17 year old butcher shouldn’t be locked up with his counterparts in regular chains but be treated as a child.
#Irexit now
In rod we trust. More rod, and in exceptional cases, cowbell! A previous poster had it right, full on strike and bring in the army (in MP mode) for a bit. Contrast and compare outcomes.
Forget the army. Can nobody find a bunch of gay hells angels?
Don’t bottle it and continue with the strike.Imates are not children they are violent criminals and should be in a prison environment . The Government ,min of Justice and health are doing the usual hug a thug crap
Build Thornton Hall, and include a separate high security wing to house these thugs until they’re old enough to move next door.
The staff assaulted my these feral skangers were not listened to from the outset. The Dunning Kruger effect is much in evidence here. Management’s hubris and ignoring of staff has severe ramifications for the lower echelons of the institutions they ‘manage’. This is particularly blatant in the public service, from hospitals to museums to justice etc.
The proverbial ‘$hit floats’.
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dunning%E2%80%93Kruger_effect
..meant ‘by’ not ‘my’.
Oberstown has become a crime university as there is no discipline, no penalties, and the young criminals have contempt for the management and staff.
If the woolly thinking by the minister and management was indeed to insist violent offenders doors be opened during strike action then the ensuing result is chickens home to roost or roast in this case!
Something similar happened at Wentworth.
The staff on the last day of industrial action sent extra staff down to help when needed. Again it showed staff helping in the face of immediate dangers. On that day of industrial action Oberstown had more staff on campus than any other day. This is not about staffing matters but about management. It is time for new management to be employed. If the BOM can’t see that, they are refusing to recognise the real challenge.
..meant ‘by’ not ‘my’.
have your say