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A 'rogue seagull' caused the closure of the Dublin Port Tunnel this afternoon

Is nowhere safe?

WE’VE BECOME USED to seagulls causing havoc around this time of year.

It’s their nesting season, you see – and over the last few months we’ve been reading about the pesky creatures doing everything from attacking small dogs to swooping on sheep on the Dingle Peninsula.

This is a new one on us, though.

The Dublin Port Tunnel – one of the city’s busiest routes – was shut down (briefly) after a ‘rogue’ gull flew into the northbound lane.

Thankfully, calm was restored within a short period…

Read: Rats disturbed by Luas works relocate to Dublin city buildings

Read: Donald Trump: ‘I am the most fabulous whiner’ 

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21 Comments
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    Mute justanothertaxpayer
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    Aug 11th 2015, 5:23 PM

    er… and why did the tunnel get closed? Did the seagull not pay the toll or something?

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    Mute Integra-Ted
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    Aug 11th 2015, 6:13 PM

    I’d say it was Gullty as charged!

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    Mute John Ward
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    Aug 11th 2015, 8:53 PM

    @justanothertaxpayer: He gulled them into believing that he was a commercial vehicle!

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    Mute Al Smith
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    Aug 11th 2015, 5:19 PM

    Port tunnell is not one of the city’s busiest routes. Over priced and massively underused.

    Could be used in a much cleverer way and take a huge amount of traffic from the city centre but greed in ireland means the €10 per journey each way turns most users off,

    Joke…!!!

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    Mute Wang King
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    Aug 11th 2015, 5:24 PM

    Only in Ireland could a seagull shut down the port tunnel. In any other country, they would just run over the fecker.

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    Mute Tony_Kilduff
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    Aug 11th 2015, 5:32 PM

    Al. I agree with you 1000%. I’ve used that tunnel less than 10 times since it was built. I’d use it every day if was reasonably priced. Hardly anyone uses it.

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    Mute Rory J Leonard
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    Aug 11th 2015, 5:36 PM

    Yes, it is a crazy pricing structure.

    €3 off peak times charge is quite reasonable but €10 at peak times to access Dublin’s Port Tunnel is just nonsensical.

    Needs reviewing ASAP, as under current arrangement, this quality piece of infrastructure is a much under-utilised resource.

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    Mute Martin Hayes
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    Aug 11th 2015, 5:40 PM

    I think the primary reason for building the tunnel was to take commercial traffic off the streets of Dublin and along with the ban on HGVs in the city centre, it has been reasonably successful at this. If it was to be opened to non commercial traffic it would soon become clogged, defeating the whole purpose.

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    Mute Alan Corlett
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    Aug 11th 2015, 5:42 PM

    The tunnel was built to take the trucks off the city routes, the pricing is set to stop the tunnel becoming blocked with cars in the morning and evening

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    Mute Neal Ireland Hello
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    Aug 11th 2015, 6:23 PM

    Wang King, seagulls and other wildlife regularly close down tunnels in cities all over the world.

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    Mute Tony_Kilduff
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    Aug 11th 2015, 10:22 PM

    I agree entirely Martin in that it has taken the trucks out of the city but there are only a few short periods during the day that ships are coming in with trucks. Most of the time the tunnel is nearly empty. Personally I think 3 euro off peak is too much, 6 euro a day, 30 euro a week…

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    Mute Dave Alexander
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    Aug 19th 2015, 5:59 PM

    To think that The Mersey,Tyne,£1:80,1:60 and Blackwall Tunnel £2:00 and Dartford Bridge Crossing £2:80 depending what time of Day it is,but even the Max is less than £4:00.
    So it’s rip of “Ireland yet again” and it’s not under or over a River and the main “Crunch” is that not all Lorries can use it.

    Please please do not consider Tunnelling from Ireland to the UK with a proposed (Man Made Island en-Route),”Glug Glug” I’m surethe TML Group that built the Chunnel have a Spare Cutting Machine (Mole) 2nd Hand of course)the other one is buried somewhere under Cheriton Portal,Folkestone. Kent.

    But to close a Tunnel for a Gull what would happen if a Continental Wagon got stuch half way through,let it’s Tyres down? Yawn Have a G’day Guy’s!

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    Mute Peter Derbyshire
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    Aug 11th 2015, 5:24 PM

    Gullible or what?

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    Mute Guy Incognito
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    Aug 11th 2015, 5:37 PM

    These seagulls are losing the run of themselves.

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    Mute Ladude
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    Aug 11th 2015, 5:38 PM

    steven seagull, badass

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    Mute Neal Ireland Hello
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    Aug 11th 2015, 6:23 PM

    Are seagulls migrants? Because that would help explain the media’s recent obsession with them.

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    Mute John Fogarty
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    Aug 11th 2015, 6:24 PM

    I use it for personel reasons 6 days a week sometimes 3 or 4 times a day i think it is great value for money saves me a bit of time so i have no complaints re. Price… I dont know about the seagul could be waterford whispers..

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    Mute Pete Gibson
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    Aug 11th 2015, 7:26 PM

    I loved being dive-bombed by seagulls when I was a kid.
    It was great fun going near their nests.
    Seagulls haven’t changed.
    Journalists can’t think of anything better to write about it seems.

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    Mute Ray Depuis
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    Aug 11th 2015, 8:30 PM

    Their making a film about it, starring Steven Seagull.

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    Mute Paul Wallace
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    Aug 11th 2015, 6:37 PM

    This is soooo Irish !

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    Mute Cheryl Mellett
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    Aug 11th 2015, 9:57 PM

    More seagull propaganda

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