Residents’ protests block lorries from two Dublin building sites

Lorries and cement mixers were prevented from entering and leaving two large construction sites in Dublin’s south inner city this morning by residents protesting over the volume of construction traffic.

From 6am on Tuesday, residents of the south inner city blocked entrances to the former Europcar car premises on Mark Street which is being redeveloped as an apartment and hotel complex.

A second group of residents blocked the entrance to the site of another hotel and apartment complex at the former Advance Pitstop/Ned’s Bar site on Townsend Street and Moss Street.

These developments are being undertaken by subsidiaries of Tetrarch Capital. The sites remained closed at 3pm on Tuesday.

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Protesters said they would continue to block vehicle access to the sites until agreement was reached with them on a safety plan for traffic movements in the area.

One of the protesters, Michael Caulfield, who was outside the Mark Street site on Tuesday morning, said locals had to put up with lorries double parked and queuing throughout the day as a relay of lorries took soil out and cement lorries queued to get in.

Residents said they had complained to Kilsaran Concrete about local traffic being blocked on Mark Street and construction lorries queuing on Pearse Street for access to the site.

The closure of the sites on Tuesday saw a number of other lorries waiting on Mark Street outside the site.

Toddlers in buggies

Mr Caulfield said children walked to school in the area and residents were trying to go about their business, many with toddlers in buggies, and they did not feel safe.

He said a large area of the south inner city between Pearse Street and the river was affected because of the scale of the construction works and the number of vehicles entering and exiting the sites.

Mr Caulfield said lorries serving the sites started arriving from about 7am, creating a noise nuisance throughout the day to add to what he claimed was a safety issue.

Workers at the entrance to the Mark Street site confirmed they were employed by Sisk, the Dublin-based contracting firm. A representative of Sisk has been contacted for comment.

Workers at the entrance to the Townsend Street / Moss Street site said the construction company involved was John Paul Construction and the site was listed as a project on the company’s website.

A spokeswoman said the issue was one for the company’s marketing department, where a response was not immediately available.