Ryanair boss accused of making ‘false statements’ about the major transport project
Metrolink is an 18.8km mostly underground rail line set to run from Swords to Charlemont, designed to provide fast, high-capacity transport through the north and south of the city.
Dublin Airport is projected to be the busiest of the 16 stops on the Metrolink plan, with approximately 18pc of all passengers departing the service there.
“Michael Leary said on RTÉ radio about two weeks ago that there’s been no cost-benefit analysis done on Metrolink,” Green Party councillor Feljin Jose said.
“That was quoted again in multiple newspapers and then he wrote a letter to the Irish Times yesterday, where he repeated it.
“So I’ve given him the 700-page cost benefit analysis in the business case that was published online, easily available, and I’ve delivered to his office,” he added.
Feljin Jose arrives at Ryanair HQ with a 700-page Metrolink business case for Michael O’Leary
Cllr Jose said he felt it was important to “call out these false statements wherever we can”.
“We should not let billionaires influence public policy,” he said.
“There is no other project in the history of the state that has gone through as much criticism and as much analysis as Metrolink.
“What we need to do now is get on with it and get it built as soon as it’s approved by An Coimisiún Pleanála.”
Mr Jose said the repeated assertion from Mr O’Leary that there has been “no cost-benefit analysis” is misleading and undermines public confidence in the major transport project.
“If he Googles ‘Metrolink cost benefit analysis’, it comes up,” he said.
“It’s quite detailed, and it’s quite clear he hasn’t read it, but he’s still on national radio and in newspapers saying it doesn’t exist.
“That undermines public confidence in public bodies like TII and the NTA and in major infrastructure projects like Metrolink.”
Ryanair boss Michael O’Leary has questioned the need for Metrolink. Photo: PA
Mr O’Leary has branded the €11bn project a “waste” of taxpayers’ money, claimed it will cost €20bn – “about a billion a kilometre” – and insisted Dublin Airport is already “well served by buses”.
He has argued fewer than a third of airport passengers use public transport; questioned the route’s usefulness for early-morning flights; and suggested 400 buses could match the Metro’s capacity for €100m.
Labour TD Duncan Smith called the comments “insulting”, adding: “Dubliners are stuck in daily gridlock. Metrolink is their best chance at affordable, reliable transport that serves communities, not corporate profits.”
The inspector’s report on Metrolink, based on the oral hearings and submissions on the project, has been submitted to An Coimisiún Pleanála, who will make the final decision.
The report is estimated to be around 2,000 pages, which may take some time for the board to make a final decision.
A spokesperson for Ryanair denied the document disproves Mr O’Leary’s claims, as the “preliminary business case was published over 4 years ago”.
“All of the timelines, the costs, and the revenue projections in this doc have been abandoned,” they said.
“It predicts 53m passengers ‘in Year 1’ from the 16-station Metro … the Luas Red & Green Lines, with 67 stations, only hit 50m passengers in 2024, after 20 years of operation.”