Business body opposes plan for Metro as threat to trade

A DUBLIN business organisation has decided to withdraw its support from the Metro North rail project, despite having the Railway Procurement Agency (RPA) as a member.

The Dublin City Business Association said it can no longer support the project because of the damage it believed the construction phase would do to city businesses.

Outgoing association chairman David McCormick said the association had a long-standing policy of promoting public transport projects in the city and had originally supported Metro North, but it was no longer the right project for Dublin.

“In the good times we saw the merit of the Metro, but we have become more and more convinced that the effect on the host community will be devastating. This project will destroy the city.”

The economic climate had changed utterly since the project was mooted, he said.

While it would have been possible during the boom for businesses to survive the expected level of disruption, the city could no longer support a five-year construction project.

“There comes a stage where you have to weigh the amount of pain against the gain. We have to be mindful of the changed economy. Jobs will be lost if this goes ahead and, once they are gone, it will be very difficult to get them back.”

There were more practical and cost-effective alternatives to the Metro, including the extension of existing rail lines to Dublin airport, and these needed to be given proper consideration.

The Metro, which has had planning permission since October, has yet to be sanctioned by the new Government yet was already causing problems, Mr McCormick said.

Business people were afraid to invest in their premises and buildings were being left vacant, particularly in the Westmoreland Street area, because of the fear shoppers and tourists would abandon the city when construction was under way.

“There has been an increasing groundswell among members and the consensus has been reached that Metro would be the straw that breaks the camel’s back,” he said.

The RPA, the State agency with responsibility for the Metro, is a member of the association and had been made aware of the change in position, Mr McCormick said.

Agency spokesman Tom Manning said he objected at the association agm last week to the change in position being made without discussion among members. However, he said the association’s support for the Metro had always been “conditional at best”.

The agency would continue to work with the association and individual members, he said.

Lorcan O’Connor, of O’Carroll’s Irish gift shops, which led the “no to Metro North campaign” was elected chairman of the association at the meeting.

He said he intends to ensure that businesses are educated in relation to the project. The Government needs to make a decision on Metro as soon as possible to end the stagnation of investment in the city, he said.

A spokesman for Minister for Transport Leo Varadkar said he was still familiarising himself with his brief and a decision on Metro had yet to be made.

The Dublin Chamber of Commerce said it remains in favour of Metro North.