Dublin - Metrolink (Swords to Charlemont only)

Zebra3 · 02-04-2026 09:17PM

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/124358820#Comment_124358820

Cranks gonna crank.

markpb · 02-04-2026 10:10PM

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/124358878#Comment_124358878

All his major roles since the early 2000s have been in Australia or New Zealand. It’s quite likely that he underestimated just how far away Ireland is from his home. It’s easy to think that you could might be able to fly first class (at his salary, that’s not unrealistic) and pop home for a few long weekends at a time but that’s not really workable, especially if the role is demanding.

jd · 02-04-2026 11:08PM

The other thing is he may have been able to make it work for himself, but maybe not his partner or the rest of his family. It's a shame he is going.

murphaph · 02-04-2026 11:52PM

Not being able to reliably transit through the middle east and the prospect of not being able to fly at all soon given that 2,000 tankers are stuck in the Persian Gulf may have expedited his decision to quit sooner rather than later. The current madness highlights that we can't afford not to deliver ML and a load of other zero carbon transport infrastructure but alas I do fear the global recession coming down the road. It feels like December 2019 right now. No idea what is about to hit us. It's our perennial problem....we take so damn long to plan anything that a recession is almost inevitable by the time we go to build it. I really, really hope I'm wrong and that by some miracle Trump's misadventures end soon and we can get back on track decarbonising our economy and losing our dependence on this damn oil.

spillit67 · 03-04-2026 08:22AM

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/124358865#Comment_124358865

He explicitly said it in one interview, he was not going to be here when it was actually built.

He also said how difficult it was with his partner.

It’s a shame he isn’t here for the tender getting completed but it’s not going to make much of a difference at this stage.

orangerhyme · 03-04-2026 08:39AM

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/124359954#Comment_124359954

The tender and procurement process will be finished in a year and half maybe so he should've stayed until then. He's known as a world expert in that area.

Then hand it over for someone else to do the construction part.

It's obvious that he wouldn't be there until 2035.

orangerhyme · 03-04-2026 08:43AM

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/124359737#Comment_124359737

I think the Iran war and energy crisis is just temporary anyway.

Things will be back to normal in a few months.

I agree it's possible it affected Sean Sweeney's decision though.

Kermit.de.frog · 03-04-2026 09:01AM

We have these updated cost estimates coming. If it's less than €15bn that would seem like a positive but the situation in the middle east must be a concern here.

spacetweek · 03-04-2026 11:35AM

I believe the phrase rhymes with “clucking bell.”

spacetweek · 03-04-2026 11:37AM

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/124358330#Comment_124358330

This is a bit much. What we got from him was that the project went from being quite uncertain to being a near certainty. If that only cost €1 million it was great value for money.

spillit67 · 03-04-2026 12:04PM

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/124360012#Comment_124360012

I don’t believe they will be significantly higher. This project received a lot more

KrisW1001 · 03-04-2026 02:06PM

The recent rise in energy costs will be factored into the estimate. It takes a lot of petroleum to build an electric railway.

As for Mr Sweeney, I think a lot of people decrying his decision have never moved abroad later in life. Jaunting off to Australia in your 20s is grand because you really don’t have any long, deep ties to Ireland at that age, but the older you are, the harder it is to leave home: I know someone who made the opposite journey, at a younger age (40s, rather than 60s), and still found things extremely difficult mentally for their first five years here - Ireland is a dark, cold, wet place; outside of cities, we really don’t know how to welcome “blow-ins”; everything is nearly as expensive as Australia, but without the high salaries. Oh, and there’s a completely new set of germs which means you’ll have a head-cold for 24 months.. The person I knew really struggled, and that was with the benefit of having their Irish partner here with them, to provide emotional support and some kind of a social “in”

I wish him well, and am very grateful for his efforts in getting this project started.

VeryOwl · 05-04-2026 02:04PM

It's a real pity about Mr Sweeney.

Above all else, he has been an excellent advocate for the project and we can only hope that whoever is brought in to replace him keeps up the pressure on a Government whose default mindset is to find any excuse to cancel and delay infrastructure.

We've seen it with Luas Finglas and DART+ South West having their funding withdrawn, despite being shovel ready, planning permission, record capital funds available and a massive housing crisis, etc.

Some concerning comments from TII CEO:

No delay to MetroLink after director's departure - TII

CEO of Transport Infrastructure Ireland (TII) Lorcan O'Connor said that MetroLink's procurement and construction would "not at all" be delayed by Programme Director Seán Sweeney's departure.
[…]
Mr O'Connor said that although a "global hiring search" begins again for a new Project Director, "one thing has changed".
A successor to Mr Sweeney will not need convincing that the project "is actually going to happen" as it is now funded and has planning permission..."and we can point to the fact that the project is in a good place at procurement with the next stage being construction".

Wrong attitude entirely. No project in the hands of an Irish government is ever guaranteed it's "actually going to happen". Tell that to the residents of Adamstown and Clonburris who've just had their DART cancelled by Darragh O'Brien. That too was "funded", until it wasn't.

The last time Metrolink was tendered it was much further along before it was scrapped.

I hope the replacement isn't as sanguine as Mr O'Connor. This metro needs someone in there fighting for it and making the case every day until the diggers are physically in the ground. Any dip in the global economy, corp receipts going down, pressures on fuel prices, and it'll be all too tempting to cancel a big €12 billion+ project.

spillit67 · 05-04-2026 03:51PM

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/124365244#Comment_124365244

Honestly this is boring posting, just trying to read into stuff that isn’t there.

The guy said it last year - being away from home was very difficult. He was travelling back every 3 months and his partner in between.

In between the various emotional outbursts on this topic this stuff grates so much.

markpb · 05-04-2026 09:52PM

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/124365458#Comment_124365458

VeryOwl didn’t talk about the reasons for Sweeny’s departure at all. Did you read their post?

Dublin - Metrolink (Swords to Charlemont only)

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