Local Green councillor Feljin Jose has attempted to answer a question which has plagued Northsiders for years – why are bus services to and from Blanchardstown so awful?
The Cabra-Glasnevin councillor, who was recently named the party spokesperson on transport by local TD and party leader Roderic O’Gorman, sat in on a High Court hearing to hear the tale of Lissan Coal Company v An Bord Pleanála.
In essence, local bus services are underdeveloped compared to the rest of Dublin because of an unmanned petrol station on Old Cabra Road.
The irony of a petrol station holding up major improvements to public transport is not lost on many.
In a clash, the petrol station which was opened during the pandemic directly butts up against the National Transport Authority’s BusConnects Blanchardstown to City Centre scheme.
The NTA’s scheme was put out to public consultation between 2018 and 2022 and was approved by ABP in 2024, but the petrol station was approved in 2019 and built in 2021.
The owners of the petrol station are looking to fight ABP on the issue; the owners told the court they have a “constitutional right” to earn a livelihood.
In a court filing last October, Lissan Coal Company (Ireland) Limited and LCC Properties and Investments (Ireland) Limited claimed the removal of regular traffic would have a “catastrophic” effect on the commercial viability of their site.
They have called on the High Court to cancel a decision made by ABP last June, which would approve the Blanchardstown bus corridor and reverse a compulsory purchase order.
Per Jose, who sat in on the hearing, Lissan Coal Company argued that they were “shut out” of the compulsory purchase order process.
The company argued that they “have a right to be heard.”
Jose, who documented the nitty gritty of the case in a Bluesky thread, commented that there was a very “scattergun” approach to the hearings and said that the implications of the case could be “big.”
While the likes of the 120, 122, 38 and 39A serve West Dublin, bus services in the area are lacking compared to other areas of the Northside and majorly lacking compared to the plethora of services enjoyed by Southside residents.
The recently launched Orbital Bus routes has attempted to ease the pressure on Northside commuters (with local People Before Profit councillor Conor Reddy commenting their effectiveness is limited because of the privatised nature of the service) but a more robust bus system for West Dublin has been high on the wishlist of local politicians as well as residents.
In 2022, plans for a bus route through Phoenix Park were infamously put on hold after it was found that the gates in the park were too narrow to facilitate modern buses, adding an extra year to an already long-delayed project.
The Blanchardstown BusConnects scheme, which was approved by the NTA, would give priority to buses, safe cycling routes and pedestrian improvements in the area.
The planned route would begin to the north-west of Blanchardstown Shopping Centre, carry on onto the N3 Navan Road via the Snugborough Road junction, follows the N3 and Navan Road as far as the junction with the Old Cabra Road, then routed along the Old Cabra Road, Prussia Street, Manor Street and Stoneybatter to the junction with King Street North.
Following that, the route then moves onto Blackhall Place as far as the junction with Ellis Quay. At the Stoneybatter / Brunswick Street North junction, cyclists are routed along Brunswick Street North, George’s Lane and Queen Street as far as the junction with Ellis Quay / Arran Quay.
The scheme hinges on bus gates which would be installed on Old Cabra Road, the road where the petrol station is located, and there would be no through route for privately-owned cars.
Per the owners of the petrol station, this would directly affect business as they are reliant on cars passing through the area.
ABP did acknowledge that there would be a “significant” negative impact on the business, but on the whole, it would have broader, positive impacts for the public at large.
Last October, then-Minister for Transport Eamon Ryan said that the BusConnects service marked “the largest investment in the bus system in the history of the state.”
“BusConnects has provided much improved bus services in the Fingal area and further additions are expected in the years ahead,” he said at the time.
UCC professor and Irish Times columnist Hannah Daly commented “why can’t we have nice things like reliable buses and safe cycling lanes? Because a coal company who built an unmanned petrol station – after this Bus Connects route was planned – says it has a “constitutional right to make a living”, apparently.”
Connecting Cabra said that “Cabra desperately needs Bus Connects- not just for improved public transport, but it delivers segregated cycling routes to an area with no safe cycle lanes.”
Local resident Brian Gormley commented, “the dogs in the street knew back in 2018 the bus lane was going in.”
Last June, the NTA said, “it is expected that all twelve corridors will be completed by 2030 with the first construction contracts to be awarded at the end of 2024 and on-site construction commencing early next year.”
“The construction of the corridors will be delivered on a phased basis in order to reduce the traffic impacts that could arise should all twelve be constructed concurrently.”
The affair, documented by Jose, paints a picture of the languid nature of Ireland’s planning system.
The initial announcement of the route was made in 2018, and newspaper notices were placed in 2022 by planners; in the middle of 2025, the project is no further along owing to a legal challenge by a petrol station.
It’s like they say about buses; you wait ages for one to come along, then two legal challenges come along at once.