THE STATE HAS purchased a site on O’Connell Street to facilitate the development of the MetroLink project.

The site, which was previously home to the Carlton cinema, was purchased from UK property group Hammerson.

Hammerson this morning released a statement saying it had sold non-core assets, including multiple holdings in central Dublin, valued at £69 million (€80.7 million), to Transport Infrastructure Ireland (TII), the State transport developer.

TII has been acquiring lands in recent years to advance the MetroLink project, which has been mired by delays.

Details of how the new site will be used have not yet been released, but the MetroLink plans had included an O’Connell Street station.

MetroLink was announced in 2018, replacing the previous ‘Metro North’ plan.

The proposed 18.8km Dublin rail line, which will be the single biggest public transport project in the history of the State, will have 16 stations stretching from Swords to Charlemont with an end-to-end journey time of 25 minutes.

It is now not expected to begin until at least 2028.

The most recent cost estimate for MetroLink, given in 2021, was €9.5 billion.

Speaking on RTÉ Radio One’s Morning Ireland today, Minister for Public Expenditure and Infrastructure Jack Chambers said the figure has “obviously been revised upwards” since then, but couldn’t say by how much.

He said he’s “happy to engage” with the media and the public once he has received the final cost range.

“We’ll be doing everything to ensure value for money,” he said, adding that the government will make an “informed decision” on how to proceed once it’s received the business case.

Chambers said he doesn’t know how much the O’Connell Street site cost.

However, he said the acquisition will complement regeneration works in the North inner City.

Dublin City Council has welcomed the acquisition.

Robert Watt, head of Dublin City Council’s project management unit, said it’s part of wider plans to bring “new life to underused and vacant sites, and creating vibrant places where people can live, work and enjoy”.