Gardaí announce plans for Europa League final

The UEFA Europa League Final featuring Bayern Leverkusen of Germany and Atalanta of Italy will take place in the Aviva Stadium on Wednesday, May 22nd 2024.

The expected match attendance is in excess of 48,000 people. Kick-off is at 8pm and the stiles are open at 5pm.

A large-scale Garda policing plan and Garda traffic management plan will be in place for this event.

Heavy volumes of traffic can be expected in Dublin city centre and in the general Dublin 4 area throughout the day, culminating in a gradual build-up in the vicinity of the stadium in the lead up to kick-off, and an immediate build-up of traffic post-event.

A Fan Festival will also take place in Dublin Castle from 10am to 5pm on match day.

Plan your journey

Those who will be using the city are advised to plan their journey in advance and to expect delays and rolling road closures.

A large number of uniformed Gardaí will be deployed in Dublin for this event along with specialist units (National Public Order Units, Air Support Unit, Mounted Unit, Armed Support Unit and more).

An Garda Síochána has been liaising with numerous stakeholders during the planning for this event, the second biggest final in European club football.

Traffic Management Plan

Road Closures:

A vehicle cordon will be put in place from 3pm at the following locations, closed and controlled by An Garda Síochána:
• Lansdowne Road – both sides from Northumberland Road to Herbert Road
• Shelbourne Road – both sides from Ballsbridge to Bath Avenue
• Bath Avenue, both sides from Londonbridge Road to Shelbourne Road
• Newbridge Avenue
• Herbert Road
• Lansdowne Lane from Northumberland Road to Shelbourne Road
• Lansdowne Park

All access routes will be maintained with a Garda presence and mobile Garda patrols along with Garda National Public Order Unit (GNPOU) presence.

Parking:

From 7:00am on the morning of the event, parking will be prohibited by An Garda Síochána at the following locations:
• Lansdowne Road – both sides from Northumberland Road to Herbert Bridge
• Shelbourne Road – both sides Shelbourne Avenue to the Podium Entrance.
• Havelock Square – right hand side from bath Ave to Gate 5
• Herbert Road – both sides from Herbert Bridge to Tritonville Road
• Lansdowne Lane – both sides
• Northumberland Road – Both sides from Haddington Road to Lansdowne Road
• South Lotts Road

There are no facilities for parking of private vehicles or coaches. All vehicles must be parked legally.

Access

Access will be maintained for residents in so far as it is safe to do so, on production of valid driving licence and/or proof of address. It may be necessary to exclude all traffic from the above roads if the volume of pedestrian traffic is such as to be unsafe to allow vehicular traffic access. This may occur in the two hours prior to the event or after the event when patrons are exiting the stadium. Access will be maintained for residents during the event as much as is possible.

Fan Meeting Points

Shelbourne Park Greyhound Stadium and RDS Simmonscourt will be the respective locations for the two Fan Meeting Points (FMP’s). Shelbourne Park will facilitate Bayern Leverkusen supporters and RDS Simmonscourt will facilitate Atalanta supporters.

These venues, one to the north side of the stadium and one to the south, will act as a designated meeting point for ticketed fans of each finalist team to congregate before the match and move to the stadium en-masse. FMP’s are a regular feature at UEFA Club Competition Finals.

• Atalanta FC will leave Simmonscourt Road at approximately 5.30pm and walk to the Aviva Stadium via Simmonscourt Road, Merrion Road, Pembroke Road and Lansdowne Road.  It is expected that some rolling road closures in the areas of Merrion Road, Pembroke Road, Northumberland Road will be conducted by An Garda Síochána to facilitate the Fan March along this route.

• Bayer Leverkusen FC supporters will leave Shelbourne Park at approximately  5.30pm and walk to the Aviva Stadium via South Lotts Road, and Bath Avenue.  It is expected that some rolling road closures will be conducted by An Garda Síochána to facilitate the Fan March along this route.

DART Station – Lansdowne Road

Lansdowne Road DART Station will close at 4pm on the 22nd May 2024 and will not reopen on that date. All passengers intending to use DART Stations from 4pm will be directed to Grand Canal Dock or Sandymount DART Stations.

Grand Canal Dock and Sandymount DART Stations will operate as normal.  Additional management measures for queuing and access / egress from both stations will be put in place.  All match patrons will be advised in advance of the closure of Lansdowne Road DART Station and the use of the alternative stations.

Walking signage to each DART station will be put in place by Dublin City Council.

The DART barriers on Lansdown Road will close at 4pm and will remain down for the duration of the event to facilitate free movement of trains. Pedestrians will transverse the railway line via the under-pass in the Aviva Stadium.

Casual Trading

Casual Trading will not be permitted in the Cordon Area.  No licences have been issued for this event by Dublin City Council.

Traffic Diversions

South-bound traffic on Grand Canal Street will access the Merrion Road via Haddington Road and Northumberland Road and will access the Strand Road and Sandymount Area via South Lotts Road and Irishtown.

North-bound traffic on Merrion Road wishing to access Shelbourne Road towards the city centre will be diverted onto Pembroke Road, Northumberland Road, Haddington Road and Grand Canal Street.

Other rolling road closures may be required due to temporary fan movements, potential protest activity or other non-event road related incidents.

The traffic diversions and road closures will remain in force until the event is completed and the roads are free of pedestrian traffic.

Minimum disruption

An Garda Síochána will ensure that traffic disruption is kept at a minimum across the city.

Ticket holders for this event can find useful information on UEFA.com here.

Further updates can be found on official Garda social media channels.