DUBLIN City Council will not now consider the proposed Dublin port tunnel route until October. The new city manager, Mr John Fitzgerald, agreed that consideration of the £130 million project should be deferred "in the interests of promoting the democratic process" and to allow more time for public consultation.
Residents of Marino picketed City Hall before last night's council meeting to highlight fears in the area about the effects of boring the tunnel underneath almost 300 houses. They were supported by Santry residents concerned about the pollution.
Mr Fitzgerald explained any decision to adopt the scheme involves making a variation to the 1991 Dublin City Development Plan, which made no specific provision to improve access to the port, and people would have at least 13 weeks to make their views known to the council.
He said this process could begin immediately but he favoured deferring it until after a full presentation of the environmental impact statement (EIS) at a joint meeting of the council's planning and general purposes committees on July 26th.
Ms Ita Greene (FF) said she hoped residents of Marino and Santry the people most directly affected by the scheme would be consulted as she believed it would require "the most intensive and detailed discussion" before any final decision.
Ms Cathy Fay (FG) said the £30 cost of purchasing the EIS was "prohibitive" and free copies should be made available to the relevant residents associations. She was supported by Mr Ivor Callely TD (FF) who complained that interested groups had yet to receive copies.
Mr Sean Haughey TD (FF) said consultation was "absolutely vital" if they were to avoid a repetition of the "bumpy ride" encountered by the the light rail project.
Mr Noel Ahern TD (FF) said he disagreed with the proposal of his party colleagues to defer initiating the draft variation process until October, but he agreed with Santry residents that the tunnel entrance should be moved further north, away from their homes.
Ms Claire Wheeler (Greens) said she was "alarmed" that the proposed tunnel, which would link Whitehall with the north port area, was the first phase of an Eastern Bypass motorway, adding that an east west port access route would be a more "honest" solution.
Mr Eric Byrne TD (DL) said he understood the objections of Marino residents as it would be "a very disturbing experience" to have a tunnel "blasted" some 40 feet under their homes.
Ms Roisin Shorthall TD (Labour) welcomed the "hasten slowly" approach of the city manager because the project had such major implications". But she said a port access route was essential to secure the future of Dublin Port and the jobs which depended on it.
Mr John Gormley (Greens) said he was "quite amazed" that Mr Callely was now projecting himself as a "great environmentalist", given that he had been the most enthusiastic supporter of a port tunnel when it was first proposed in 1989.
However, Mr Callely said the original proposal envisaged that the tunnel would pass underneath largely open, institutional lands, and he queried why the route now being recommended had been moved eastwards to run under so many homes in Marino.
Mr Brendan Brady (FG) said none of the residents had been consulted when the six different options for the route were being assessed, while Mr Tony Taffe (FF) said they should he get funding to employ their own experts "instead of having to run raffles and cake sales".