Dublin will face four days of major traffic and public transport disruption next week as the city hosts two European Union presidency events, according to The Irish Times. The European Political Community (EPC) meeting takes place on Thursday, November 12th, at the Convention Centre Dublin, followed by an informal gathering of EU leaders on Friday, November 13th. Gardaí have described the security operation surrounding the events as the largest ever mounted in the State, and authorities are asking the public to consider staying away from the city centre.
Why it matters
The EPC meeting will bring heads of state and government from across Europe to Dublin, making it the biggest gathering of its kind Ireland has ever hosted, The Irish Times reports. A formal dinner at the National Gallery of Ireland is scheduled for Thursday evening. The scale of the event means extensive road closures and transport changes across the capital, and officials are warning that journeys will take considerably longer than usual.
An Garda Síochána said the security operation will exceed the scale of a US presidential visit. Superintendent Liam Geraghty, the force's chief spokesman, told a briefing in Dublin that nothing comparable had been staged in Ireland before. He said significant traffic disruption is unavoidable if the policing and security arrangements are to function, and advised the public to allow extra time and expect delays.
Security cordons and road closures
Restrictions begin to build from Tuesday morning, when a sealed security zone takes effect around the Convention Centre. Walking, cycling and vehicle access will not be permitted inside it. Jennifer Gilna of the National Transport Authority said the area would be completely closed off.
North Wall Quay, between Guild Street and New Wapping Street, will shut to traffic and pedestrians from 7am on Tuesday until Friday evening, with east-west traffic diverted onto approach roads.
On Wednesday, a cordon with barriers and parking restrictions will be set up around the National Gallery of Ireland from 7am. From 8pm that evening until Friday evening, a wider security cordon and extended traffic management cordon will surround the convention centre, and the Samuel Beckett Bridge will close to traffic. Movement will be restricted within an area bounded by Amiens Street, Seville Place and Sheriff Street Upper, East Wall Road and North Wall Quay, though residents and businesses will be allowed through subject to security checks.
A traffic management cordon will operate near the National Gallery from 7am until midnight on Thursday. Further traffic and parking restrictions are planned around Merrion Square and the Docklands from 7am until late on Thursday, with substantial closures expected between 3pm and 7pm.
Delegations will arrive and depart through Dublin Airport and Casement Aerodrome. Traffic restrictions will apply at Dunbro, between the R108 and R122, and Garda patrols will be increased on the perimeter roads of both aviation sites.
Buses and Luas affected
Bus services will be diverted away from the quays east of the Custom House between November 10th and 13th, with stops and termini around Connolly Station and the south-east of the city centre affected. From 8pm on Wednesday, Mayor Square and Spencer Dock stops will close on the Luas red line. Buses will also be diverted from Merrion Square, and the red line will not run east of Busáras and Connolly on Thursday and Friday.
Gilna said real-time information displays at city-centre bus stops will be switched off during the period. The authority wants to avoid passengers reading an arrival time at a stop that has since been relocated, she explained. She urged commuters to set off earlier than usual for work or appointments and to check the Transport Infrastructure Ireland website for live updates. Anyone planning a city-centre trip on Thursday for reasons that are not essential should reconsider whether it can wait, she added. Public transport will keep running for people who must travel, but with considerable disruption.
Policing arrangements under discussion
Rank-and-file gardaí are due to begin a work-to-rule action organised by the Garda Representative Association running from November 10th to 14th, which overlaps with the summit. Geraghty said Garda Commissioner Justin Kelly met the association earlier this week and that talks were continuing with the aim of ensuring the security operation can proceed as planned.
He declined to give details of the operational plan. At earlier EPC meetings held elsewhere, military personnel were visibly deployed alongside police.
A strike by public sector unions over the absence of a new public pay agreement, if it goes ahead on Thursday, could add to the disruption on the busiest day of the week.
With the arrangements now published, the focus turns to whether the Garda work-to-rule is resolved before Tuesday and whether the public sector action proceeds on Thursday.
