Dublin’s MetroLink was granted planning permission over a fortnight ago.

This is great news for public transport in the capital, not least because it will lessen the chore for many when it comes to getting to and from Dublin Airport.

However, there has not been much debate – and perhaps not much awareness – about the impact this public transport project will have on St Stephen’s Green, where a stop is planned.

The St Stephen’s Green station will be located in the interior of the park, changing its northeastern corner.

In an submission by Frank McDonald to a MetroLink oral hearing in March 2024, the journalist, author and advocate for the architectural integrity of Dublin city pointed out that as a national monument, St Stephen’s Green has the same status as Newgrange and the Rock of Cashel. McDonald cited Maurice Buckley of the Office of Public Works (OPW), who said that the station would have “a direct, severe, negative, profound and permanent impact on the heritage value of the Green”.

It is possible to be enthusiastically in favour of the MetroLink project in general (which I happen to be), while querying the logic of its southside trajectory, and also its impact on one of........

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