Transport Infrastructure Ireland (TII) has begun the search for a new programme director for Dublin’s MetroLink project after Seán Sweeney announced his departure this summer.
Sweeney, who was previously CEO of City Rail Link in Auckland, New Zealand, is stepping down for personal reasons.
TII CEO Lorcan O’Connor said recruitment would begin immediately. In the interim, deputy programme director Michael Flynn would lead the project.
O’Connor thanked Sweeney for his work on the project.
“Seán joined us at a critical juncture when MetroLink was in need of a steady hand to build a strong team, generate market interest, secure planning and steer the programme into the procurement phase. During his time, the project has secured its most significant milestone to date: securing the Operational Railway Order in January 2026,” he said.
“Seán has assembled an executive team with over 250 years of collective experience in delivering global mega-projects. Under his watch MetroLink now has a completed reference design, a live procurement process, comprehensive political support and a level of international market confidence Ireland has never seen before.”
Sweeny said leading the MetroLink programme was one of the greatest professional privileges of his career.
“However, after several years away from home, the sacrifice of being separated from my partner, children, and grandchildren, who are over 10,000 miles away, has become unsustainable. It is with deep regret that I leave MetroLink, however, I know it is the right thing to do for everyone,” he said.
“A programme like MetroLink will have many parents and I always believed my role was to get the programme up and running. I am proud to leave the programme with a highly committed and experienced executive team, full government support as well an operational Railway Order and MetroLink fully funded into construction. MetroLink is no longer a ‘proposed’ plan; it is a live delivery project.”
Procurement is under way for a delivery partner; major civils packages, including tunnelling; and utilities and enabling works.
O’Connor said by the end of the year the project would issue contract notices for the M500: Service Delivery Package, comprising design and delivery of rail systems, rolling stock, commissioning, depot, park and ride facilities); invitations to tender for the M400 package civil engineering and infrastructure works; and commence advanced and enabling works for the programme.
