Owner of the strange access tower at the Clongriffin Dart Station wants to hand it over to Irish Rail

Developer Richmond Homes has offered to hand over the blighted access tower and lift at Clongriffin Dart Station to state or semi-state agencies.

But “we received no interest from these entities to take ownership of the Access Core”, it says in an 8 December letter to the Myrtle the Coast Residents Association.

Residents living near the Dart station have complained for years about the tower’s lift, which is dirty and has broken down multiple times – recently for three-months straight.

But resolving the issue has been complicated by disagreements over obligations, the poor condition of the access tower, and the fact that the tower is in private ownership and managed by a private developer.

A 26 June letter asked Irish Rail to take over the operation and management of the “access core” from the developer, “until the residential development delivers a new public access to the station”.

“The access core is clearly an integral part of Irish Rail’s transport infrastructure and we feel Irish Rail is best placed to manage it,” the letter says.

A spokesperson for Irish Rail didn’t directly address whether it would. But a spokesperson for the National Transport Authority (NTA) said discussions had taken place about Irish Rail taking the lift in charge.

But “a condition assessment of the lift was undertaken by Iarnrod Eireann and it was identified that significant upgrade and refurbishment of the lift would be required to bring the lift in line with IE standards for acceptance,” the spokesperson said.

That option would be looked at, the NTA spokesperson said, as part of an options and feasibility study being carried out by consultants, to draw up short- and medium-term solutions.

Labour Councillor Brian McDonagh says Richmond Homes’ proposal to hand responsibility of managing and operating the access point over to a body like Irish Rail is an idea that, in theory, he would favour. “But, if they’re transferring us lands, what are the exact terms and conditions of them looking to do it?”

Ultimately, McDonagh wants to see the problem solved, permanently, and as quickly as possible, he says. “If that requires handing over infrastructure that should be in the public ownership, then absolutely. But, the devil is in the detail.”

“We’re expecting a report from the consultants,” he said. “Hopefully that’ll give us a way forward.”

Disputed responsibilities

Residents in Baldoyle have long complained about month-long outages of the lift in the access tower, broken lighting and dirty conditions, saying it stopped some people from getting to and from trains.

Samantha O’Flanagan of Myrtle, The Coast Residents Association says even now, after the most recent repairs to the elevator, it is in a terrible state. “The flooring is disgusting. It’s extremely uneven.”

“I don’t know how it is safe for people with mobility issues to use,” she says. “Because the floor is torn apart. It’s rusted away.”

After some maintenance, last month, Richmond Homes put a sign outside the entrance to the stairwell and elevator, telling residents living east of the Clongriffin station, including in Baldoyle, that entry was limited to the station’s opening hours.

This sign prohibited large items, such as bicycles and buggies, from being carried up the stairs, saying that this was “for pedestrian access only”.

The decision to close off the tower at night has wider repercussions. Locals don’t just rely on the tower to access the train station, but also bus services, says Cian O’Callaghan, the Social Democrats TD.

“It doesn’t make sense to have a good investment in 24-hour bus services, but then to have people relying on that be cut off,” says O’Callaghan. “Penalising the people who use that service, I don’t think there’s any justification for it.”

The 8 December letter from Richmond Homes to the residents association suggests a disagreement over what Richmond Homes and the landowner’s obligations are, in relation to maintaining the tower, and who they have to provide access for.

The land and tower are owned by Monobrio DAC, which is part-owned by Avestus Capital Partners, which owns Richmond Homes.

The only obligation that passed on to Monobrio when it bought the site in 2019 was “to permit the exercise by CIE/Irish Rail of a right of way” over certain lands, the letter says.

There is no planning condition or other obligation on the owners or Richmond Homes over the access core, they said.

Given the blame and legal threats direct towards them over the condition of the tower, they have been forced to reconsider spending so much time and money to provide the access that they currently are, they said.

“It may well be better for the Owners simply to revert to their strict legal obligation of permitting the exercise by CIE of its right of way over certain lands between Myrtle Avenue/Myrtle Close and part of its property adjacent to the station”, they said.

How much time and money Richmond Homes has spent on upkeep of the tower isn’t public.

“We are not prepared to disclose the expenditure spent to date on maintaining/repairing the lift/lights and surrounding area,” said a letter from its development manager to a council official who had asked on behalf of a councillor.

A spokesperson for Irish Rail said, first and foremost, “it must be reiterated that this access is for general public realm access, including childcare, education, shopping & leisure and public transport also”.

“Fingal County Council gave approval for this as part of the original planning approval,” they said.

Green Party Councillor David Healy raised his concerns about access being blocked at night at Fingal County Council’s monthly meeting on Monday, 11 December.

In response to the installation of the signs, Fingal County Council had issued a warning letter, under the planning enforcement system, Healy told the council.

As of 8 December, the public right-of-way was blocked, Healy said. “And I think we need to hear about urgent action to enforce the public right-of-way at that location, which we are obliged to do under the Roads Act as well as enforcement and the Planning Act.”

Now that a warning letter had been issued, the council would need to wait for this to take its course, said AnnMarie Farrelly, Fingal County Council’s chief executive, at the meeting. “We’ll leave that to the planning enforcement team.”

A spokesperson for the NTA said that it expected the commissioned study on different options going forward to be done in February 2024.