OPW must clarify when Phoenix Park entrance gates will be returned

A lot of people have been asking me when the Phoenix Park gates will be returned. They were taken down for the Papal visit, and have been missing since. I asked the Green Party TDs to put a question to the Minister with Responsibility for the Office of Public Works about the matter.

The Minister stated that the gates are currently undergoing preservation works, which was part of the conditions for allowing their removal. However, he was not able to give any indication of when they might be replaced.

I find this strange. Surely the experts undertaking the preservation works much have some understanding of the timescale within which the work will be finished? Coming on the back of the Strategic Review of the Park that the OPW are undertaking, people are concerned that major changes are being made to the Park with no oversight of what is happening.

I will continue to seek clarification from the Minister and the OPW on when exactly the gates will be returned. The current temporary barriers are a blight on the entrances to our Phoenix Park.