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Gardaí near Convention Centre yesterday ahead of the largest ever meeting of leaders in Ireland Alamy
EPC traffic
‘Significant’ road closures expected in Dublin city centre during EPC summit
Gardaí have said it can be expected there will be ‘significant road closures’ in the city centre between 3pm and 7pm.
AN GARDA SÍOCHÁNA has said there will be “significant” road closures in Dublin city centre this afternoon and evening.
More than 50 world leaders will visit Dublin today for the European Political Community (EPC) summit, and the policing and security operation around it will be the largest in the history of the State.
The summit will be hosted in the Convention Centre in the Docklands, with an opening address at 11.30am, and leaders will begin arriving from around 10am.
Taoiseach Micheál Martin will then host an official dinner in the National Gallery of Ireland on Merrion Square at around 6.30pm.
An informal meeting of the EU Council will also take place on Friday.
Ahead of the meeting, vast barriers had been put in place around the area, preventing access to vehicles, cyclists and pedestrians.
Exclusion zones have also been put in place for air and maritime traffic and the security operation will see thousands of gardaí deployed throughout the city.
There will be 100 specially trained motorcycle escort officers who will perform a minimum of 200 movements of VIPs, including heads of state.
Gardaí will take part in 15,000 rolling 12-hour shifts and have drafted in officers from Northern Ireland, Latvia and Portugal.
Convention Centre
A security cordon is in place around the Convention Centre, including barriers and no-parking restrictions, which will remain in place until Friday evening.
The Samuel Beckett Bridge is closed to traffic, with north/south traffic across Samuel Beckett Bridge being diverted from approach roads.
Traffic movements are also restricted within an area bounded by:
• Amiens Street
• Seville Place/ Sheriff Street Upper
• East Wall Road
• North Wall Quay
Access to residents and businesses will remain open, with security checks.
North Wall Quay between Guild Street and New Wapping Street remains closed to traffic and pedestrians until Friday evening, with east-west traffic being diverted from approach roads.
A wider security cordon and extended traffic management cordon will also be in place around the National Gallery of Ireland from 7am until midnight.
Dublin city centre
Traffic and parking restrictions will continue to be implemented near hotels associated with events in the north and south city centre until late Friday morning.
Additional traffic and parking restrictions will be implemented on roads within Dublin city centre near Merrion Square and the Docklands from 7am until the late evening.
Gardaí have said it can be expected that there will be “significant road closures in this area” between 3pm and 7pm.
A spokesperson added that temporary traffic restrictions will be implemented today across the wider Dublin region to facilitate security motorcycle escorts from Dublin Airport and Casement Aerodrome.
The highest impact of these restrictions from airports to the city will be from 7am to 11am, while the highest impact in the city centre will be felt from 3pm to 11pm.
The M50 motorway and Dublin Port Tunnel are not expected to be directly affected by the policing and security operation at this time.
Airports
Normal operations will continue at Dublin Airport, with departure and arrival roads at T1 and T2 unaffected.
However, travelling members of the public should allow additional time to arrive at the airport during the peak impact times of 7am to 11am.
Traffic restrictions will be in place at Dunbro between R108 and R122, while additional garda patrols will be in place along perimeter roads of Dublin Airport, including the Naul Road, R108, R132 and Old Airport Road.
Access to the aircraft viewing stands on the R108 and Naul Road adjacent to Dublin Airport will also be restricted.
Meanwhile, perimeter roads to Casement Aerodrome will be subject to additional garda patrols and traffic restrictions, with parking or stopping on perimeter roads restricted.
3Arena
Niall Horan will be performing tonight in the 3Arena.
While the 3Arena is outside the security cordon, it is impacted by traffic restrictions.
There will be no east/west traffic on North Wall Quay today.
Vehicles can access the 3Arena along Seville Place/Sheriff Street Upper, East Wall Road and across Tom Clarke Toll Bridge at all times.
There will also be no Luas services to the 3Arena before the concert, though a restricted number of special Luas services will be facilitated after the gig.
There will be no pedestrian access along North Wall Quay today and pedestrians accessing the 3Arena should use Amiens Street/Seville Place/Spencer Dock Bridge/Sheriff Street Upper/North Wall Avenue before and after the events.
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