A NUMBER OF traffic restrictions will come into place later in Dublin as the main meetings related to Ireland’s presidency of the Council of the European Union return to Dublin Castle.

The Irish Presidency is primarily concentrated in Dublin Castle, but the main focus of proceedings earlier this week was Co Wicklow.

Druids Glen hosted informal meetings of EU defence and foreign affairs ministers from 31 August to 2 September.

However, EU ministers return to Dublin Castle today for an informal meeting of the EU General Affairs Council.

The meeting will be chaired by Minister of State for European Affairs and Defence, Thomas Byrne.

Attendees will arrive and depart through Dublin Airport today and tomorrow, though normal operations will continue at the airport.

An Garda Síochána have said that formal and informal EU Presidency events today and on Friday will be concentrated at Dublin Castle, the Chancery Hotel, Radisson Blu Royal Hotel and Trinity College Dublin.

A spokesperson said traffic restrictions will be “kept to the minimum required” and it is intended that any impact on the public “will be localised”.

The public has also been asked to comply with gardaí on duty in the event of encountering any motorcycle escort rolling road closure.

Today, there will be localised, temporary traffic restrictions and rolling road closures to facilitate security escorts between 2.45pm and 3.30pm in the south city centre, near Dublin Castle.

There will also be intermittent, localised temporary traffic restrictions and rolling road closures later this evening between 5.30pm and 7.15pm, between the south city centre and Trinity College and Dublin Castle.

Tomorrow, Friday, there will be localised, temporary traffic restrictions and rolling road closures between 7.45am and 8.30am in the south city centre, near Dublin Castle.

These operational plans are subject to change for security and operational reasons.

A spokesperson said gardaí are “working to ensure that the nature and scale of the policing and security operation is proportionate to protect everyone’s safety”.

The spokesperson added that An Garda Síochána continues to engage with Transport Infrastructure Ireland and public transport providers to minimise disruption to the public transport network.

The policing and security operation in place at Dublin Castle will remain in place for the duration of the presidency, which ends on 31 December.

Until that date, Ship Street Little, and Ship Street Great are closed to both traffic and pedestrians, though local access is facilitated.

Meanwhile, there was relief yesterday among some businesses near Dublin Castle when security barriers were reconfigured to allow for pedestrian access along Castle Street.

Castle Street will remain closed to traffic until 31 December.

Gardaí have also reminded the public that drone restrictions are in place at venues hosting EU presidency events, details of which are published on the Irish Aviation Authority website.