a bus route running through the Phoenix Park has hit delays - after it was discovered that the buses can't fit through the entrance gates.
And the Office of Public Works and the National Transport Authority have been slammed for failing to realise the gate was "too narrow" to accommodate the long-awaited route.
The new bus route was supposed to run from Heuston Station to Broombridge in Cabra with stops at Dublin Zoo and the Phoenix Park visitor centre.
However, the NTA said the Cabra Gate - which the route would use - was "too narrow for a standard single or double-deck bus" and that other options were being looked at with the OPW.
Sinn Fein Councillor Seamas McGrattan told Dublin Live it showed a "serious lack of forward" planning that neither body realised the gate were too small for a bus to pass after they were removed to allow for access during the Pope's visit.
All the Phoenix Park gates - some of which are over 185 years old - were removed for the 2018 visit of Pope Francis and were only reinstalled last year after they were refurbished.
He said: "Those gates have only recently been put back in. Those gates were taken out for when the Pope came.
"This bus has been planned for a while so there is serious lack of forward planning."
He added: "They are the old original gates and they took them away and they were doing them up. They had this old steel gate and people were giving out because it didn't look right... They are dangerous and they weren't designed for the traffic that is on roads now.
"It just shows there is a serious lack of forward planning there. The problem with transport in the city is that between the Council, the OPW, the NTA, TII ... the amount of different groups looking after it and there is probably a lack of communication there."
The OPW said at the time of the Pope's visit the historic gates were to be removed for “health and safety reasons so as to ensure the safe and free movement of people and vehicles before and after the event”.
An NTA spokesperson explained that the introduction of the route was delayed due to the discovery that the gate was "too narrow".
They said: “The particular gate is too narrow for a standard single or double-deck bus, and for that reason, NTA and OPW are looking at a range of options with a view to bringing forward proposals in the coming months.”
Minister of State with responsibility for the OPW Patrick O'Donovan said he was "disappointed" by the delay to the long-awaited bus route.
He said: “The OPW don’t drive buses and the OPW don’t provide buses. We want the bus service to go ahead. We have provided a route, and it is something I said at the very start was going to be a requirement.”
The gates are protected structures so the NTA need to provide a special bus that fits through the gates, Minister O'Donovan added.
“It [the bus service] should be going ahead and as far as I’m concerned it’s disappointing that it hasn’t."
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