Dublin city councillors have refused to give the developers of the 50,000-seater Lansdowne Road stadium a half-acre site essential for the construction of the stadium, unless an acceptable compensation offer is made to local residents by Friday.
An extraordinary meeting of the council's south east area committee was held yesterday under pressure from the Lansdowne Road Stadium Development Company, which needs an urgent decision on the land if it is to meet its construction deadlines.
The development company has an agreement with Iarnród Éireann that it can close the Dart for construction work on only two bank holiday weekends, when the service is used least. It may now miss the next three bank holiday weekends because of delays.
Labour councillor Dermot Lacey said yesterday it was "hugely disappointing" that the company had not yet put in place a firm, written compensation offer for residents.
"We need a final document on the outstanding issues. I don't think anybody can accept the vagueness of the package available to the wider community of Havelock Square and the Dodder Walk," Mr Lacey said.
The compensation offer made to residents in O'Connell Gardens, whose houses will be overshadowed by the stadium, was "derisory" he said.
It is understood that €75,000 has been offered to each of 21 residents, and that the development company will not negotiate a settlement for those in the wider community until those offers are accepted.
Some five residents of O'Connell Gardens have accepted the offer.
Lucinda Creighton (FG) said the council's ownership of the strip of the Dodder Walk required for the stadium was "the strongest card we have as councillors to use on behalf of the residents".
Wendy Hederman (PD) said the company had long known that the council needed clarity on what the full compensation package for residents would be, before it handed over the required land. "I'm not prepared to discharge my responsibility as a councillor on the basis of hearsay."
Cllr Chris Andrews (FF) said residents living outside O'Connell Gardens had had no contact from the company and there were still "a lot of unanswered questions".
