THE PROGRAMME DIRECTOR of Dublin’s Metrolink has said he received death threats while working on a similar project in Auckland, New Zealand, but he also stressed that the benefits to come from the underground railway are “off the scale”. 

Sean Sweeney told Newstalk that large infrastructure projects always attract some level of pushback from the public, citing examples of work he’s done in other countries, but that once they are up and running, those objections are soon forgotten.

He said that in the age of social media, “two people can run a campaign” against something. He also noted that there were riots in the streets of Amsterdam before the metro was opened there, only for it to be broadly welcomed within days of coming online. 

In the city of Auckland in his native New Zealand, Sweeney said: “I had death threats against me.”

Sweeney answered some questions sent in by Newstalk listeners, a number of which were about the proposed route of the railway.

But Sweeney said he has no control over the route, while acknowledging there has been some criticism of it so far. 

Overall though, Sweeney said he has never worked on a project with such potential benefit to the public. 

“The benefits are off the scale in my view,” he said.

As for the cost of the massive infrastructure project, Sweeney said it is being “recalibrated” following delays in the planning process. 

In 2021, the Metrolink was estimated to cost between €7 billion and €12 billion. 

“The number is going to change,” said Sweeney.

“We had to make changes because of the planning process.”

He said that two independent companies would be brought in to assess the project’s estimated cost once it is revised.