SOCCER:IN AN attempt to avoid the scenes of crowd congestion that followed last Saturday's rugby match between Munster and Leinster at the Aviva Stadium, barriers will be erected along Lansdowne Road after tonight's European football qualifier against Russia to guide supporters safely to the Dart station.

Stadium director Martin Murphy said yesterday the barriers will form a corridor for those coming from the north end of the ground so they can reach the Lansdowne Road station without colliding with people walking in the opposite direction towards Ballsbridge.

The predicted timescale before boarding a north-bound train is 45 minutes.

“We’ve got an exit strategy that was devised by specialists (transport planning consultants Steer Davies Gleave),” said Murphy. “Obviously we are implementing it but there are certain things in the plan that we have to look at as it is not running as smoothly as we had expected.”

Some supporters reported delays of up to 40 minutes leaving the stadium last Saturday, with many complaining of being confined in the newly-built tunnel under the railway line.

“What happened, happened on Lansdowne Road, not in the tunnel,” Murphy explained. “The whole issue about the tunnel is because there was a back-up of people at the exit of the underpass on Lansdowne Road.

“People were stopped from moving (out of the underpass) for four or five minutes and they didn’t know what was happening. That was the main issue.

“Then there was a group of idiots jumping across the fence into the IRFU house beside the stadium. They were young kids who didn’t have the patience to wait.”

Moves to open the Grand Canal Dart station, which would alleviate some of the post-match crowd pressure, were rejected by Iarnród Éireann on garda advice because of the steepness of steps into the station.

“In any event trains leaving Lansdowne Road are full,” said Iarnród Éireann spokesman Barry Kenny. “You get to Grand Canal Dock, where there are large crowds on the platform, who may not be able to get on. A lot of (northward-bound) people walk onwards to Pearse Station.”

Murphy conceded problems outside the ground last Saturday were exacerbated by the majority of people leaving at the same time due to the early closure of stadium bars. “The bars are intended to remain open after the match to keep people in the stadium so there is a staggered outflow but due to some misunderstanding they were closed.”

Supporters in the Aviva Stadium are not permitted to return to their seats with an alcoholic beverage, something that may be reconsidered.

“There is precedence for it elsewhere,” said Murphy. “There may be a case to look at introducing it for safety reasons because there was a lot of congestion at half-time on the concourse so that is something we’ll have to discuss with the garda.

“It is permissible for concerts so it is just something we have to work through.

“We are coming from a situation where the rules and practices from the old stadium have to be looked at. Some of them might not be appropriate going forward.”