Metro North will bring 36,000 jobs to 'new city'
Paul Melia
METRO North will spark a massive boom in jobs with 36,000 new positions to be created by 2030, it was claimed yesterday.
An economic development strategy for the Metro North Economic Corridor (MNEC)-- which takes in Dublin Airport and Swords -- says 600 hectares of land are available for development and that the jobs created will be twice the current number in the county.
The project will be worth €900m to the economy when it opens for business in 2013, it is predicted.
The development of a new city at Swords in north Dublin, with a population of 128,000 people, will happen once the Metro is fully operational.
And Fingal County Council plans to have a new hospital and third-level campus in north Dublin to help attract business and double the population, making it a key driver of the economy.
"This economic strategy is built on a very firm foundation," Fingal county manager David O'Connor said yesterday.
"Metro for Swords is built absolutely on economics, and at least half the cost of Metro in Fingal will be built on foot of development levies.
"The Metro North Economic Corridor (MNEC) is about driving the city region, but Fingal will benefit. It will be worth €900m, of which €300m will go to Fingal."
He said: "Countries no longer compete with each other, regions compete with each other.
"We're going to have a third- or fourth-level campus, and we commissioned a design for a general hospital, so if people came to us they'd see how much land it would take up. This is not a dormitory town, it's an economic region."
Fingal is among the fastest-growing parts of the country and saw an increase in population of 22pc from 2002-2006, to almost 240,000.
The average age of residents is 32 years old and 16pc are under nine, making it the county with the largest proportion of children in the State.
The county is set to benefit from improvements at Dublin Airport including Terminal 2 and the new Airport City. A new deep-water port at Bremore and the IKEA furniture store will also result in more rates being paid to the local authority
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Merge
Mr O'Connor said that Swords would merge into Drumcondra in the same way that Dundrum had merged into Ranelagh as a result of Metro North, which would have nine stops in the county at Northwood, Metropark, Dublin Airport, Fosterstown, Swords, Seatown, Estuary, Lissenhall and Belinstown.
A report by Indecon Economic Consultants, which was unveiled yesterday morning, notes that 73pc of people in employment in the MNEC work outside the area, which "reflects the fact that the corridor has not yet developed a sufficient base of high-skilled value-added employment".
"Key strengths" of the area included the Metro North, high employment rate and availability of workers, proximity to Dublin Airport and high quality of life in the area.
It notes that the Metro is integral to the continued expansion of the region, and that developments will support 37,000 new jobs, bringing total employment to 66,700 and more than doubling the existing level of economic activity and employment in the area.
The report also notes that employment should be in hi-tech manufacturing and services, IT, financial and business, and science and technology sectors.
It adds that Fingal County Council should "strongly pursue" the possibility of attracting a university campus and a hospital in the area.
Land to the east of Dublin Airport should be concentrated in high-value services, while development at the Metropark site near Ballymun should be concentrated in hi-tech manufacturing, science and technology.
Higher densities to make maximum use of Metro should also be considered, the strategy notes.
"Huge challenges lie ahead for Fingal, not least among them capitalising on the arrival of Metro North and creating sufficient job opportunities for our expanding and more affluent population," Mr O'Connor added.
"The unique age profile of our population further compounds the need for new and substantial employment opportunities."
- PAUL MELIA
