Price of upcoming College Green Plaza soars from estimated €10m to €80m as councillors urge restraint
In an update provided to a Dublin City Council (DCC) Mobility and Public Realm Strategic Policy Committee, project head Marie Galvin said the anticipated cost had now risen to €80m, which includes a 40pc contingency.
The project has doubled in scope from its initial design, revealed nine years ago, and inflation and labour costs have also significantly contributed to the increase since then.
Pedestrianisation is now proposed to extend from Trinity College all the way down Dame Street as far as the junction with George's Street.
Local Sinn Féin councillor Kourtney Kenny said that Government should be stepping in to provide funding for the project, as it was one that would benefit the whole country.
"Everyone in Ireland at some stage is going to come to Dublin, so there needs to be more pressure on Government to be paying some of those costs,' she said.
Ms Kourtney said even though she supports public realm improvements, allowing costs to soar in such a dramatic fashion was 'heinous'.
'We need to put more attention on how we can get the best bang for our buck and not just be burning money and allowing the costs to balloon like this,' she added.
Independent councillor Mannix Flynn said the plaza was a waste of public money, and the funds should be spent instead on more pressing issues.
"We don't have a pedestrian or a plaza crisis. We have a homeless crisis, we have a housing crisis, we have a medical crisis, we have a crisis of anti-social behaviour in these very areas,' he said.
"And they think by doing this, they're going to solve problems. It's nonsense.'
ADVERTISEMENT
Mr Flynn said he could foresee costs continuing to 'escalate' with the project.
"The €80m figure is just bullshit, this is an architectural conservation area (ACA). Anybody who even looks at this will want treble the money because it's an ACA,' he said.
"They don't know what they're going to find when they dig into the ground. You've got the Luas, you've got all those different things there, and this will absolutely escalate in costs.'
Green Party councillor Feljin Jose said costs had risen so much because the project had taken so long to proceed, but cautioned that the €80m figure was an estimate at this stage, not a costed figure.
'We've seen three different visions of this over the last ten years, and the longer we leave this, the higher the total cost of inflation, labour costs, and the scope of the project has increased so much as well.'
'We have nobody to blame but ourselves [for the increased cost]. You know, we've been talking about this project for so long.'
He said the project had been further delayed by the National Transport Authority's slow rollout of BusConnects, but that the council should still proceed with the plaza.
'The city needs this, we desperately need this, and we should absolutely go ahead with it. And if we wait it's not going to get any cheaper.'
Funded by the Local Democracy Reporting Scheme
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
The Journal
34 minutes ago
- The Journal
Dublin will get a new Lord Mayor next week and it's set to be a Fine Gael councillor
DUBLIN COUNCILLORS WILL elect a new Lord Mayor at next week's Council meeting and a Fine Gael councillor is set to take on the role. The Lord Mayor is elected to the office annually by members of Dublin City Council. New Lord Mayors are appointed each June, though elections are sometimes needed at other points of the year. For example, outgoing Lord Mayor Emma Blain was elected on 18 December and succeeded former councillor James Geoghegan, who became a TD for Dublin Bay South in the 2024 General Election. Current Lord Mayor of Dublin Emma Blain At Monday evening's Annual Council meeting, Fine Gael councillor Ray McAdam is set to be elected to succeed his party colleague Emma Blain. If elected, McAdam will become the 358 th Lord Mayor of Dublin. McAdam, who has acted as a Parliamentary Assistant to Paschal Donohoe, is a North Inner City councillor and was first elected in 2009. He has been re-elected at subsequent Local Elections in 2014, 2019 and again in 2024. In addition to the support of his Fine Gael party, McAdam can also rely on the backing of Fianna Fáil, Labour and the Greens. This is because Dublin City councillors from these parties entered into a political agreement last year, which is set to run until 2029. The position of Lord Mayor is set to be rotated among these parties as part of the agreement. Advertisement There are 63 councillors within Dublin City Council and 31 councillors belong to this pact. Fine Gael councillor Ray McAdam Alamy Stock Photo Alamy Stock Photo In a statement to The Journal , McAdam confirmed that he will be nominated by this grouping at Monday's Council meeting. Sinn Féin has nine councillors elected to Dublin City Council and will nominate Councillor Kourtney Kenny as their candidate. Sinn Féin is part of a newly-formed 'Progressive Alliance' which includes the Social Democrats, People Before Profit and independent councillors Pat Dunne, Cieran Perry, and John Lyons. This alliance contains 24 councillors and will support Kenny's bid. Kourtney Kenny Sinn Féin Sinn Féin Kenny has appealed to Green Party and Labour Party councillors to support her candidacy and added: 'Their ongoing support for Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael in Dublin City Council is both opportunistic and hypocritical. 'They cannot keep speaking out of both sides of their mouths, challenging the government in Leinster House and supporting them on Dublin City Council.' The Lord Mayor presides at meetings of the City Council, signs its records of proceedings and represents the city at public events. They also act as an ambassador for the city both locally and internationally and they usually live in the official residence on Dawson Street, the Mansion House, during their term. The position is a largely ceremonial role and they serve a term of just one year. This was not always the case however and Alfie Byrne was Lord Mayor of Dublin for nine consecutive years from 1931 to 1938. Readers like you are keeping these stories free for everyone... A mix of advertising and supporting contributions helps keep paywalls away from valuable information like this article. Over 5,000 readers like you have already stepped up and support us with a monthly payment or a once-off donation. Learn More Support The Journal
Irish Independent
3 hours ago
- Irish Independent
Diverse and inclusive workforces the ‘most relaxed and happy', says Taoiseach
His comments come as US President Donald Trump has clamped down on American taxpayer spending on equality, diversity and inclusion (EDI) programmes, branding them a waste of money. He was speaking in an interview with Adam Long, board director of the National LGBT Federation (NXF) ahead of this weekend's Pride parade in Dublin. 'Companies will tell you that a diversity inclusive model is the most productive workforce and the most relaxed and happy place,' said the Taoiseach. 'When you go to the Googles of this world or you go to the major companies we have, be it digital companies or pharma, it is really a diverse workforce and a happy one as a result.' He said he visited LinkedIn recently which had a diverse workforce and staff were 'really happy' and 'in their space and in themselves'. The Cork TD said he is 'very anti' culture wars, saying they are rampant in the UK and the US. He said Ireland should 'avoid' it. 'There's too many activists in the UK on this stuff and Ireland should just avoid it. We have our ways of doing things, we should keep on the direction of travel that we began two decades ago or more,' he said. The Taoiseach said recent media interest over his comments in 2021 on how Irish people 'never were a homogenous group' is an example of how issues can get 'distorted'. He made the comments in an opening address to the Glucksman conference, which Independent Ireland TD Ken O'Flynn recently called to be clarified after the remarks were shared widely on social media. 'No one said a word for four years,' said the Taoiseach. 'We are in a space where there is distortion, where there is misinformation.' The Taoiseach affirmed support for LGBT+ people, saying on transgender people: 'Nobody should ever feel like they don't belong.' The Government is now facing legal action from the EU if it doesn't enforce European laws on hate speech and cyber security in the coming months. The Government last year decided to separate out controversial hate crime and hate speech legislation and drop the section on hate speech laws. The Taoiseach disagreed with the EU Commission, saying existing laws already go beyond the proposed EU laws. 'My understanding is the Minister [for Justicer Jim O'Callaghan] believes the Commission isn't quite accurate but it's a matter and we have to work out and deal with the Commission. We want to be in compliance with the European framework,' he said. 'In our common law provisions, we have moved much further than the Commission recognises.' He said the current hate speech laws, first enacted in 1989, were very 'far seeing' when they were implemented at the time. Mr Martin also said the Government and the Attorney General is currently considering a ban on conversion therapy, which the last Government also promised to ban.
Irish Daily Mirror
3 hours ago
- Irish Daily Mirror
Taoiseach says Europe's inability to put pressure on Israel 'incomprehensible'
Taoiseach Micheál Martin has said that it is 'incomprehensible that Europe does not seem to be in a position to put pressure and leverage on Israel to stop this war in Gaza'. He also suggested that Europe needed to follow other countries' steps to sanction individual ministers, noting that the UK, Norway and Canada had further sanctions against settlers in the West Bank and against Israeli ministers Itamar Ben-Gvir and Bezalel Smotrich. He made the comments ahead of an EU Council Meeting in Brussels on Thursday, where it was expected that some countries would block Ireland's attempts to sanction Israel. Mr Martin said that there must be European action to try and stop the war. He said: 'The people of Europe find it incomprehensible that Europe does not seem to be in a position to put pressure on Israel and leverage on Israel to stop this war in Gaza, to stop the continuing slaughter of children and innocent civilians. 'The war must stop. There must be a humanitarian response and a surge of humanitarian aid into Gaza, an end to the blockade. 'I understand there are historical reasons why some member states have a particular perspective on this, in terms of the Middle East issue. 'But from a humanitarian perspective, it is incomprehensible what is going on, what continues to go on and Europe needs to really articulate that in the strongest possible way. We will be seeking to pursue mechanisms to ensure that this war stops and that humanitarian aid gets in urgently to Gaza.' Mr Martin said he will call on his counterparts to consider the EU-Israel Association Agreement and any further actions that can be taken against Israel. A review of the agreement found indications that Israel had breached human rights obligations contained within the deal. Benjamin Neyenyahu's Government has criticised the Government, with the Taoiseach criticising this in turn. He said: 'Israel needs to stop denouncing every report that comes out using objective criteria to describe the situation in Gaza. 'It's not an outrage, the review. The review, in some respects, is quite, some could argue, a modest document that seeks to objectively present the facts in relation to Gaza, but it avoids emotional language and so on like that. 'I think that that kind of tactic and pattern of undermining those who would even question what's happening in Gaza, that also has to stop. I passionately believe in the reassertion of the United Nations within the Middle East, the primacy of UN agencies. 'The European Union has an association agreement with Israel. Israel should respect all clauses of that agreement, including the Human Rights clauses. 'There are differences of opinion across the European Union table. I acknowledge that. 'But I think there are other areas, for example, the United Kingdom, Norway and other countries, Canada, have now issued further sanctions against settlers in the West Bank and against Israeli ministers, Minister Ben-Gvir and Minister Smotrich. 'These are issues that the European Union should look at, as well as the Association Agreement and aspects of the Association Agreement.' The Irish Mirror's Crime Writers Michael O'Toole and Paul Healy are writing a new weekly newsletter called Crime Ireland. Click here to sign up and get it delivered to your inbox every week
