{"id":470297,"date":"2026-05-27T23:00:08","date_gmt":"2026-05-27T23:00:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/470297\/"},"modified":"2026-05-27T23:00:08","modified_gmt":"2026-05-27T23:00:08","slug":"application-for-college-green-plaza-to-be-submitted-by-summer-amid-strong-public-approval-the-irish-times","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/470297\/","title":{"rendered":"Application for College Green plaza to be submitted by summer amid strong public approval \u2013 The Irish Times"},"content":{"rendered":"

Designs for Dublin\u2019s \u20ac80 million College Green<\/a> plaza have been broadly endorsed by more than 80 per cent of respondents to a consultation process in advance of the submission of a planning application for the scheme this summer. <\/p>\n

The long-promised traffic-free plaza will stretch from the area west of the Luas lines in front of Trinity College<\/a> as far as the junction with Dame Street and South Great George\u2019s Street, and could be completed by 2030.<\/p>\n

An application for the scheme will be submitted to An Coimisi\u00fan Plean\u00e1la<\/a> this summer, Dublin City Council<\/a> said, following \u201cstrong support\u201d for its new designs in a public consultation process earlier this year.<\/p>\n

More than 1,800 submissions were made to the council on the designs in February and March, with 81.2 per cent signalling support for the plans, including 66.5 per cent who said they \u201cstrongly liked\u201d and 14.7 per cent saying they \u201csomewhat liked\u201d the designs. Just under 16 per cent of respondents did not like the proposals, with 12.2 per cent saying they \u201cstrongly disliked\u201d and 3.7 per cent saying they \u201csomewhat disliked\u201d the designs. Just under 3 per cent were neutral, unfamiliar or did not specify.<\/p>\n

Those who liked the plans cited the prioritising of pedestrians and cyclists, the creation of a large civic space \u201ccomparable to those in other major European cities\u201d and the emphasis on planting, shade and climate resilience.<\/p>\n

Concerns were raised about public safety and antisocial behaviour, and the maintenance of the space, particularly new water features. Greater clarity was requested on changes to public transport and the impact on the adjacent street network. The need to ensure convenient access to public transport stops, set-down points and parking was emphasised, the council said.<\/p>\n

Extending to 17,000sq m (183,000sq ft), the area will be a \u201cpedestrian priority\u201d public space crossed by defined cycle paths. The designs focus on climate resilience and \u201cgreening\u201d, with 75 new trees and 1,400sq m of landscaped areas, which will increase \u201cgreening on Dame Street from 0 per cent to 30 per cent\u201d, the council said.<\/p>\n

The designs incorporate several water features, including the Thomas Davis statue and memorial fountain, a \u201crain garden\u201d, and an \u201cartistic water feature\u201d. The plaza will also include a number of seating areas and space for hosting events, cultural activity or \u201cmajor civic moments\u201d.<\/p>\n

[\u00a0The Irish Times view on College Green plaza: Dublin\u2019s belated giftOpens in new window<\/a>\u00a0]<\/p>\n

The council last submitted a planning application for the College Green plaza in May 2017. In November 2018, the planning board refused permission, citing the potential for \u201csignificantly negative impacts\u201d on bus services.<\/p>\n

However, the National Transport Authority<\/a> (NTA) in September 2020 published its final plans for a redesigned bus network for the city. Under BusConnects, services would be routed away from College Green and east Dame Street.<\/p>\n

With the conflict with bus services removed, the council decided to double the size of the plaza, extending it from College Green to George\u2019s Street. Under the plan, buses will still run in front of Trinity College along the same axis as the Luas line but will no longer cross the Luas line into Dame Street.<\/p>\n

When the council last applied for the plaza in 2017 it estimated the project\u2019s cost at \u20ac10 million. Last June the new scheme\u2019s project manager, Marie Gavin, said approval had been secured for a budget of \u201cabout \u20ac80 million\u201d that would be part-funded by the NTA. That included a \u201chuge contingency fee\u201d of \u201cabout 40 per cent\u201d but that should \u201chopefully cover everything we have to do\u201d, she said.<\/p>\n

She said she hoped to be on site by November 2027, with a three-year construction period, meaning the plaza could be completed by 2030.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Designs for Dublin\u2019s \u20ac80 million College Green plaza have been broadly endorsed by more than 80 per cent…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":293754,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[75,29095,94040,13288,61,60,14350,7942,43],"class_list":["post-470297","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-ireland","tag-an-coimisiun-pleanala","tag-busconnects","tag-college-green","tag-dublin-city-council","tag-ie","tag-ireland","tag-luas","tag-national-transport-authority","tag-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/470297","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=470297"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/470297\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/293754"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=470297"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=470297"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=470297"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}