The Dublin City Centre Traders Alliance has applied to the High Court for leave to bring a judicial review in respect of the decisions made by Dublin City Council on traffic restrictions. The National Transport Authority has been enjoined to the proceedings.
The council said it had no comment to make.
Formed by solicitor Noel Smyth, the traders’ association includes the owners of several city centre car parks including Brown Thomas, Arnotts and the Jervis Shopping Centre. The Restaurants Association of Ireland and tailor Louis Copeland are among the other members.
It had argued for the traffic changes to be delayed until next year, and at one point was supported by junior business minister Emer Higgins.
An economic impact assessment of Dublin City Council’s new transport plan, which the alliance commissioned and published last summer, claimed it would lead to a reduction of €141m in retail spending in the city centre by 2028.
The assessment also estimated that the traffic plan could result in the loss of 1,787 retail jobs and a €41m loss to the Exchequer. However, the findings were widely disputed, and the city manager Richard Shakespeare announced after studying it that he was proceeding with the traffic changes.
Following the introduction of the plan at the end of August, private traffic is not permitted to drive east and west along the Liffey quays on either side of O’Connell Bridge from 7am to 7pm.
The changes are only the first step in the implementation of a Dublin city centre traffic plan, which hopes to reduce the dominance of private cars in the centre of the capital by 2028.
It aims to “remove traffic that has no destination in the city”, after research found that 60pc of motorists currently pass through rather than stopping in town.
At the consultation stage, Dublin City Council said that more than 80pc of the 3,500 public submissions it received supported the plan.
Opposition came from car park owners and retailers, however, some firms had specific concerns about what the restrictions on the quays would mean for deliveries and the transport of goods. These included Guinness brewer Diageo, which has used the quays to bring beer from James’s Gate to Dublin Port.
It is understood that since the introduction of the changes at the end of August, Diageo lorries have been taking more circuitous routes to the port, including via the M50 and the north inner city.
