Judicial review into Dublin’s Metrolink begins today
A visualisation of the planned Metrolink terminus at Charlemont, Dublin 2. A group of residents near the planned terminus lodged judicial review proceedings against An Coimisiún Pleanála. Picture: metrolink.ie
A controversial judicial review into Dublin’s long-awaited Metrolink transport system has its first listing in the High Court today, Monday.
It is listed for a 'motion of notice' on the planning and environment list for a hearing before a judge this morning, as an initial step in the proceedings formally getting under way.
The multi-billion euro 18.8km Metrolink rail line, most of which will be underground, is to run from north of Swords, through Dublin Airport, and down to Charlemont in the south of Dublin city centre.
The project is the largest single investment project in the National Development Plan and transport minister Darragh O'Brien has previously said he hoped work could begin from 2027, subject to no legal challenges.
However, supporters of the project have warned that legal proceedings could delay the timeline for it to open to the mid-2030s.
Metrolink was granted planning permission by An Coimisiún Pleanála in October, three years after permission was first sought by Transport Infrastructure Ireland.
In its direction, An Coimisiún Pleanála admitted there would be adverse impacts during the construction phase on residential amenities and retail/commercial premises that would be “unavoidable in some locations".
“However, the commission considers that such impacts must be balanced against the very significant wider societal benefits and common good that will accrue from the provision of a high-quality underground rail system,” it said.
Last week, a group of more than a dozen local residents near the planned terminus at Charlemont lodged judicial review proceedings against An Coimisiún Pleanála over the Metrolink. They are represented by BC Law LLP in the case.
This first hearing on Monday is for the application for a judicial review. If the application is granted, the case will likely be heard in full in the new year.
The filing of papers for the case provoked plenty of reaction, with Transport Infrastructure Ireland admitting it would result in an “inevitable delay” to the Metrolink while Darragh O’Brien said he was disappointed that it would “push our time frame out”.
In announcing the Government’s sectoral investment plan for transport last week, Mr O’Brien reaffirmed that €2bn would be used to support construction “given its unique scale and importance for the country”.
Dublin Chamber, meanwhile, urged the Government to introduce “emergency, fast-track" legislation to ensure the project can proceed without delay.
"The State has stepped in before to unlock vital infrastructure, and it must do so again,” its president Eoghan Quigley said.
“When national progress is being blocked, Government has a responsibility to act. MetroLink is a once-in-a-generation project and allowing it to be held up by serial objections and procedural games is unacceptable."
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