Eamon Ryan, the Minister for Transport, favours ceasing car movement through certain regions in Dublin city centre as part of the city’s transportation strategy. Ryan, leader of the Green Party, feels this action would bring benefits to employees and businesses. This strategy, a creation of the National Transport Authority and Dublin City Council (DCC), aims to restrict traffic that does not need to be in the city, make specific routes available only for buses and convert the College Green courtyard into a pedestrian zone.
Ryan expressed his views following comments from Emer Higgins, Fine Gael’s Minister of State for Business, Employment and Retail. To protect jobs and retail sales in the city, Higgins expressed her intentions to request DCC to delay these plans, initially scheduled for August, until 2025 at the earliest.
Eamon Ryan, however, believes that the plan should be enforced right away. In his words, job protection risks are greatest when bus rides take too long due to traffic. A traffic control system that accelerates bus transit time is in the best interests of the central city’s businesses. While respecting Higgins’ opinion, Ryan reveals that he does not concur, and neither does he believe that the city council agrees.
He also emphasised that the responsibility for the project lies with the city council. As per Ryan, government ministers must focus on policy instead of designing each street turn and bus stop. The city council has already voted twice on this.
As he expressed his views, Dublin’s Luas light rail service celebrated its twentieth anniversary. In 2024, it is poised to transport over 50 million passengers for the first time ever. The service started in 2004, providing a Green Line link from Sandyford to St Stephen’s Green. Now, it extends 43 km and includes 67 stops throughout the city. Over its two decades of service, it has transported over 650 million passengers, and more than 400,000 residents in Dublin live within 1 km of a Luas stop.
Mr. Ryan recounts his inaugural journey on the Luas two decades ago, referring to it as a “significant event”. The first-ever tram was piloted by Eddie Byrne in 2004, and over the last 20 years, he’s successfully trained every subsequent Luas driver, amounting to over 400 in total.
Speaking on the 20th anniversary of the Luas, Mr. Byrne expressed immense joy at being a part of several remarkable narratives over the years. “We’ve had the honour of ferrying newlyweds on the greatest day of their lives, music enthusiasts to concerts, and vital frontline workers during the testing times of Covid-19. These last 20 years have certainly been eventful,” said Mr Byrne.
“Being a Luas driver and a mentor to subsequent drivers has provided me with an intriguing perspective of our brilliant city, and I am confident that the Luas will continue to be a crucial part of Dublin’s culture in the foreseeable future.”
Significant expansions so far include the extension of the red line from Connolly to the Point in 2009, and the debut of the world’s longest trams, measuring 55 metres, in 2019.
As Dublin’s inhabitants are expected to continue increasing in number, the Luas will accordingly undergo expansion. The forthcoming plan involves the extension of the Green Line to Finglas. The definitive design is currently in the works.
In a conversation with The Irish Times on Sunday, Mr. Ryan asserted that “the business proposal is now prepared and it’s a comparatively uncomplicated project. Not only will it revolutionise Finglas, but all areas along the way. I have strong belief it’ll be approved by the government.”
He added: “The proposal has to be cleared by our planning system – that’s always an unpredictable factor – but if a swift decision is reached, we could move towards construction rather swiftly.”