LAST UPDATE | 10 Aug

CRITICISMS OF THE MetroLink by billionaires Michael O’Leary and Dermot Desmond have been dismissed by Darragh O’Brien.

The Transport minister said that while he respects both businessmen, he did not agree with their comments that the proposed metro for Dublin would be out of date by the time it is built.

The 18.8km MetroLink rail line, most of which will be underground, is to run from north of Swords to Charlemont in the south of Dublin city centre at an estimated cost of 11 billion euro.

Ryanair chief executive Michael O’Leary has made several criticisms of the Metro including that it will only serve about 100,000 people and that the money should be invested in buses instead.

Desmond, estimated to be in the top 10 richest people in Ireland, also weighed in on the project, stating that by the time the metro is built, in 2035, it would be made obsolete by advancements in AI and autonomously driven vehicles.

Responding to the criticisms, O’Brien said: “Dermot Desmond is a very successful business person. I don’t agree with him in this instance.

“I think it’s more than about the airport. If you look at the development around the whole of Swords, North County Dublin and right the way through it in and across the city, the cost benefit analysis that’s been done on the project speaks for itself.

“This is a project of significant national importance. It would not be replaced by self-driving cars.

“AI will certainly advance our public transport offering, unquestionably, but we’ve waited long enough for projects like Metrolink to get into construction.

“This government (is) committed to it, and we will be doing it, and it will actually drive economic benefit. It will pay back to the exchequer over time, and it will improve quality of life.”

He added: “Both people I’ve a lot of regard for, they’re successful in their own fields.

“The reality of it is, though, we’ve the fifth best connected airport in Europe, an airport that’s growing, that’s a really important economic driver, but for an island, it’s critically important by way of connectivity – (and) it doesn’t have a rail link.

“But it isn’t just about the airport. If you take the area of Swords, the size of a city now, that does not have a rail link.

“For us to be able to continue to grow – and our population has grown substantially since 1990, well over close to one and a half million additional people in the country – we’ve got to support our citizens and those who come and live in this country with a public transport network that can support what they need to do.

“I don’t agree with either of them, frankly, I think they’re obviously perfectly entitled to their opinion, but this government are committed to Metro and we will deliver it.”

O’Brien was speaking at the opening of the new Dart station, Woodbrook, in south Dublin built between the stops of Bray and Shankill.

The works on the station began in October 2023 and cost under the budgeted 24 million euro.

It marks the 147th railway station in the Irish rail network and is the first new railway station in just under 15 years.

He said the station would have 191 services each week and it would take 40 minutes to get into the city centre.

He noted the station was near the largest social and affordable housing scheme in the country, Shanganagh Castle Estate, which will have 2,300 homes in the area when it is completed.

O’Brien said the station was an example of what the government’s ambition was over the next five years in office.

Addressing locals who attended the station’s opening on Sunday, he said: “This is your money, these are your taxes that you paid, invested in infrastructure for the good of all of our citizens and, indeed, visitors alike.

“We’ll continue to do that over the course of the term of this five years, between now and the end of the decade.

“I believe that this period of time can be transformational for our public transport system, particularly our rail system, right the way across the country.”