Different Schemes, Same City? How lessons from Luas Cross City works are informing the design and implementation of the Luas Finglas and MetroLink Cultural Heritage Strategies

Abstract

Transport Infrastructure Ireland (TII) Archaeology and Heritage operate under a Code of Practice (CoP) for Archaeology (2017) as agreed with the present Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage (MHLGH). In accordance with the CoP, a Project Archaeologist is assigned to each scheme. TII Project Archaeologists are responsible not just for archaeological remains, but for cultural heritage in accordance with the Environmental Impact Assessment Directive 2014/52/EU and Environmental Protection Agency Guidelines. Therefore our responsibilities equally encompass the management of built and cultural heritage constraints. This is inclusive of statutory constraints such as National Monuments, Record of Monuments and Places (RMPs) sites, and Protected Structures, and non-statutory constraints such as those included on the National Inventory of Architectural Heritage (NIAH), industrial heritage complexes, parklands, statues, and street furniture.Between 2013 to 2017, TII managed the various cultural heritage requirements of works contracts associated with the construction of Luas Cross City (LCC) in Dublin, Ireland. This scheme provides an ideal case study to consider how archaeological projects can help us understand the development and eastward expansion of the city's public realm from the late 17th to the 20th century. It also demonstrates how we can apply lessons learned from cultural heritage works to engineering contracts.