Dublin Bus diverts five key routes around Merrion Square South on 26 September

Dublin commuters faced disruption this morning as Dublin Bus implemented a day-long diversion of routes 15a, 15b, 19, 23 and 24 to facilitate an outdoor cultural event on Merrion Square South. The operator issued the notice shortly before 08:00, advising that services would bypass the square between 10:00 and 18:00 and instead pick up and drop off passengers on Baggot Street and Clare Street. Normal routing is expected to resume for the first departures after 18:00. Although the diversion covers only eight hours, the affected services link several residential corridors in the south-western suburbs to Dublin Airport and the city’s central business district. Employers in the Silicon Docks and Government Quarter were quick to alert staff of potential delays, and many international travellers making same-day connections through Dublin Airport were advised to allow extra time or switch to Aircoach and taxi alternatives. The incident highlights the fragility of Dublin’s surface-transport network at a time when international assignee numbers are surging. According to the latest Central Statistics Office figures, daily bus boardings have exceeded 750,000—10 % higher than pre-pandemic levels—as corporates encourage employees to use public transport to reduce their carbon footprint. Yet the capital’s narrow Georgian streets leave little redundancy, meaning a single road closure can ripple across the network and jeopardise tight flight or immigration appointments at Burgh Quay. Dublin Bus says it worked closely with An Garda Síochána and the event organiser to minimise the impact, adding that real-time updates were pushed to the TFI Live app and social-media feeds. Nonetheless, mobility managers say the late timing of the announcement—just hours before the diversion—underscores the need for automated alerting tools that integrate with corporate travel-booking platforms so that rerouting can be actioned instantly. For assignees newly arrived in Ireland, today’s disruption is a reminder to register for the Immigration Service Delivery (ISD) email alerts for appointment slots: missed registrations can cause loss of work permission. HR teams are advised to build a 30-minute surface-transport buffer into their domestic itineraries on weekends, when cultural events are most likely to trigger road closures around the city core.