An Taisce blamed for further Dart closures

Iarnród Éireann was yesterday accused of "shifting the blame" onto An Taisce for a new round of Dart closures which may happen later this year.

Members of the Oireachtas Committee on Transport already angered by a 14 weekend shutdown which begins this weekend, were told yesterday that further closures may have to take place, most likely later this year.

Addressing the committee, the acting chief executive of Iarnród Éireann Dick Fearn laid the blame squarely with An Taisce which he said had objected to work at Killiney and Blackrock and was expected to object to works at Salthill/Monkstown. The work was designed to make the stations wheelchair accessible.

Mr Fearn expressed "disappointment" with what he said the company perceived as a "disregard by An Taisce for the needs of the mobility impaired".

However, Mr Fearn accepted delays at Seapoint were not caused by An Taisce but "wider issues" which were later explained as doubts over land ownership.

Iarnród Éireann spokesman Barry Kenny also blamed Dún Laoghaire-Rathdown County Council for the delays saying the company had initially understood its works were exempt from planning permission and had been later told by the council that they were not.

But Dún Laoghaire TD Mr Barry Andrews said An Taisce had a statutory role to play in carrying out its functions and he felt that Iarnród Éireann was "shifting the blame" in that it should have foreseen some of the difficulty.