PHIBSBOROUGH locals who were protesting over a concrete eyesore in Broadstone say they’re delighted their campaign has seemingly reached a successful conclusion.
The offending concrete wall, part of ongoing Luas Cross City works, blocked views of the historic Broadstone Depot building and concerned locals attended a demonstration at the site on Saturday, November 19, organised by Phizzfest Reimagining Phibsborough and supported by local politicians including the Green Party’s Ciarán Cuffe.
Representatives from Luas had said they were open to discussion and sent one of their members to the demo to collect a petition of over 1,500 signatures.
Phibsborough resident and spokesperson for the group, Ciara Considine, said they got some good news the Monday after their protest.
“Luas Cross City project is going back to the drawing board on the wall and redesigning it based on previous designs,” said Ciara.
“It looks like it will be removed.
“We’re thrilled. There was a really good local turnout at the demonstration.”
Residents initially didn’t think the wall would be permanent because there were hoardings up during construction of the new Luas stop and it was hard to see properly.
However, a few weeks ago, when it became clear the wall was there to stay, local politicians and residents decided to take action.
“It was very much a case of people power,” said Ciara. “There’s no question that the local community expressing their feelings on it has had an impact.”
The group say they’ll have to wait and see what the new plan looks like, although they expect it to be better than the wall that the protest sparked.
“I think they realised very quickly that it was a mistake; we know that by the way they’ve responded to us,” said Ciara. “We’re really looking forward to what they come up with.”
Ciara added that the concrete would have been covered in white limestone, which, she said, besides blocking views of Broadstone, would have been very attractive to graffiti artists.
But the wall is only one part of works underway in the area, which is the site of the new Broadstone DIT Luas stop. Another proposal, which residents support, is for a public plaza connecting Broadstone and Grangegorman.
Ciara said they have not become involved with this aspect yet but will be keeping a close eye on how it develops. The hope is that the new Luas connection and other developments in the area will add something positive to the community.
Updates on the project can be found on the Phizzfest Facebook page.
REPORT: Ciara Tamay del Grosso Bates