Dublin Town open for business during Papal Visit

DublinTown remains open and ready for businesses while welcoming his Holiness Pope Francis to our great city

This weekend marks a major event in the city with the visit of Pope Francis. The city is open for business and this is all you need to know on how to get around on Saturday August 25th and Sunday August 26th, plus details on delivery and waste collection times for city businesses.

Saturday 25th August itinerary

Pope Francis will visit Dublin Castle in the late morning/early afternoon of Saturday 25th. Later that day (approximately 3:30pm) he will visit the Pro-Cathedral. This event will run until approximately 4:15pm when Pope Francis will leave for the Capuchin Day Centre via – Cathal Brugha Street, O’Connell Street, Westmoreland Street, College Green, Dame Street, Lord Edward Street and over Church Street to Bow Street to the Capuchin day centre.

Pope Francis route

The city will remain open for businesses and will welcome people who are here to see the Pope and others who are in to shop, socialise or simply catch up with friends.

Access to car parks:

There will be some temporary road closures in place to facilitate the movements of Pope Francis through the city. It is also anticipated that people may wish to come into the city to see Pope Francis move through the city centre in the Popemobile and these people will be facilitated with barriered viewing points along the route.

To facilitate this, access to certain car parks may be restricted for short periods of time. This will affect the Arnott’s Car park (between 3-5pm) and Fleet Street car park (between 12noon-6pm approximately).

Access to the car parks at the Ilac Centre, Parnell Centre and on Jervis Street will be maintained although some diversions may be in place during the period of the Pope’s visit through the city along the Dorset Street and Parnell Street arteries.  Similarly other than Fleet Street, the city’s south side car parks will remain accessible.

An Garda Siochána will operate a “common sense” policy in relation to access and movement on the 25th.

Public Transport:

Public transport will largely operate as usual through the city centre on Saturday 25th. Buses will be diverted from O’Connell Street only, immediately before and during the Pope’s visit to the area.

There will be a normal service on the Luas Green Line pre 10.30am. Between 10.30am – 5.30pm services will operate from Brides Glen to St. Stephens’ Green and Dominick to Broombridge (There will be no service between Dawson and Parnell).  Post 5.30pm normal service resumes.

The Luas red lines service will operate as usual except between 3.15pm – 5.00pm when it will be operating from Tallaght/ Saggart to Smithfield and from The Point to Connolly (There will be no service between Busáras and Four Courts at that time). The Luas stop at Lower Abbey Street will be closed on Saturday 25th for security reasons ahead of the Pope’s visit to the Pro-Cathedral.

The DART and suburban rail services will operate as normal.

Dublin Bike Scheme will be operating a limited service on both days. The availability of bikes and bike stands may be disrupted as a result. More details on locations can be found on dublinbikes.ie

Pedestrian movements:

People will be able to move freely about the city on foot at all times. Barriers will be placed along roadsides of Pope Francis’ route for safety purposes but all pedestrian crossings will still operate as usual. Barriers will be removed quickly once the Pope has moved through the area. There will be some restriction of access for the general public for small sections of Cathedral Street and Marlborough Street (at the Pro- Cathedral) for security reasons on Saturday 25th.

Access for staff and hotel guests in private cars:

Restrictions of private car access will only apply immediately before, during and after the movement of Pope Francis through the affected areas as outlined above.

Delivery access:

Gardaí are requesting that businesses aim to have all deliveries completed by 10am on the morning of Saturday 25th.

City Business Waste Collection

For businesses in Dublin city, waste collections will be facilitated after 6pm on Saturday 25th and Sunday 26th.

Sunday 26th  August:

It has been suggested that up to 500,000 people may travel to the Phoenix Park for the Papal Mass.  To accommodate this movement traffic changes and diversions will be put in place.  These changes are best illustrated by the map below.

Access to the city on Sunday 26th – green lines indicate access routes; red lines will be inaccessible; general traffic will be unable to access the red shaded area as indicated.

Dublin City remains open for business with the eastern corridor largely unaffected (M1, Port Tunnel, Eastlink), however, people wishing to shop, socialise and meet up with friends in the city centre are likely to find it easier to use public transport on the day.  As noted in more detail below, an enhanced public transport service will be in place on the day.

Public Transport:

An enhanced public transport service will operate on Sunday 26th including enhanced Dublin Bus, DART and commuter rail services.

Luas:

The Green Line will operate from Brides Glen to Broombridge between the hours of 7.00am and 11.30pm, however, the Phibsborough stop will be closed post-event from 3.00pm – 10.00pm

The Red Line will operate from Tallaght / Saggart to Blackhorse and from The Point to Smithfield between the hours of 7.00am and 10.00pm

There will be no service between Blackhorse and Smithfield from 7.00am until 10.00pm. From Blackhorse and Smithfield, passengers will walk via the dedicated routes.

Connolly stop will stay closed between the hours of 7.00am and 10.00pm

A full Red Line service will resume 10.00pm – 11.30pm

Customers travelling from Tallaght, Hospital and Cookstown should alight at Belgard for onward travel.

Access for staff and hotel guests in private cars:

Gardaí will facilitate access for hotel guests coming from, or going to, the airport. Similarly staff who are unable to avail of public transport and are reliant on private car access are recommended to have a copy of their appropriate identification with them where possible. The following routes should be used:

From West & North use M50 and one of following  –

N2 Finglas Road

M1 Drumcondra Road

Ballymun Road

N32 Malahide road

Clontarf Road

Dublin Port Tunnel

From West & South use M50 and one of following  –

N7 – Longmile Road – Cork St.

N81 Tallaght Road / Terenure / Harolds Cross

Dundrum – Ranelagh – City

N11 – Donnybrook – City

Rock Road – Pearse Street – City

Deliveries:

Gardaí are advising businesses to try and arrange deliveries for Saturday evening or Monday morning if possible. For deliveries that must be made on Sunday 26th it is advised that all deliveries aim to be completed by 7am.