Conversion of Station Entrance at Amiens Street

There has been a planning application (reference 2848 / 20) submitted to Dublin City Council that would see the Amiens Street entrance to Connolly Station converted into an office building.

I was notified to this application by a local constituent, which I appreciated and would encourage anyone with a planning application in their own area that they are not sure about to likewise get in contact, and I would be happy to have a look.

While the Amiens Street entrance is currently closed to the public, the proposed development could end the prospect of re-opening this entrance, and could hinder the future expansion of Connolly Station.

Working with local councillor Janet Horner, I have made an observation on this planning application to Dublin City Council, outlining a number of issues that must be taken into considerations. You can read my full submission below.

The Dublin Commuter Coalition has also made a similar submission, which you can find here.

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14th July 2020

Re: Planning Application Reference 2848 / 20

115, Amiens Street, Former Dart Station Hall, Connolly Station, Dublin 1

To Whom It May Concern,

I wish to comment on the above planning application on behalf of myself, Neasa Hourigan TD, and Cllr Janet Horner of the North Inner City. We include below our observations on this planning application, and have submitted the required fee.

• As outlined in the recently agreed Programme for Government, the next Government has committed “to maintaining and improving service capacity and frequency” on our railways, as well as an expansion of Dart services within Dublin. Connolly Station will likely play a central role in this expansion. As such, it may have been appropriate for an impact assessment to be conducted on the future limitation to capacity that this proposed planning application would have. It would be preferable to have had an independent assessment conducted prior to this application, outlining how this development would curtail the expansion to rail services at Connolly Station, as promised in the Programme for Government.
• Dublin City Council’s own Development Plan (2016-2022) outlines, “Subject to a station layout assessment, to promote the re-instatement of station entrance at Amiens Street/Buckingham Street Junction.” (pg128). It appears this proposed development would put an end to this goal. There are no provisions in the application to use this site as a potential future station entrance, therefore the proposed development appears to be contrary to the policies and objectives of the Dublin City Development Plan.
• Having regard to ongoing public health measures, and with it being unlikely that we will see an end to social distancing guidelines any time in the near future, we should be taking into consideration the re-opening and expansion of entry and exit points at our public transport hubs. As outlined previously, this proposed development would in fact do the opposite, and would limit options at Connolly Station.
• Finally, we would like to express concerns with the walkability of Connolly Station for those with specific accessibility needs, due to the current layout of the Station. Those with disabilities can often be left travelling long and complex routes to gain access to the lines that are currently nearest to Amien Street. This proposed development ends the potential re-opening of the Amien Street entrance, and would greatly hinder the future prospects of improving accessibility at Connolly Station.

I hope that you will take these observations into consideration.

Kind Regards,

Neasa Hourigan TD, Dublin Central

Cllr Janet Horner, North Inner City