A visually impaired woman has "implored" An Bord Pleanála to stop the demolition of her home to make way for a proposed MetroLink station in Dublin city centre, accusing Transport Infrastructure Ireland of having "a total lack of sensitivity of her situation".
Áine Wellard has been giving evidence at an oral hearing into the project which would see homes around the Tara Street Station being compulsorily purchased and knocked down.
She is a resident in a terrace of eight Dublin City Council houses on Townsend Street.
Ms Wellard began by portraying her "dissatisfaction, frustration and disappointment" with TII's response to her original submission saying it wants to "demolish the home of a totally blind person to provide light for the sighted", referring to the architectural design of the station.
"TII seem to think that losing a home is easy to remedy with new accommodation but where I live is more than accommodation, it is my home," she said.
Ms Wellard has been living in the area for 43 years saying she knows the routes of where she needs to get to.
"Moving for me means having to learn new routes and I will lose the [local] services," she said.
She said she has a dog and a cat and her vet and GP are easily accessible and her home has a back and front garden.
Ms Wellard has her own front gate and front door.
She said there is a housing crisis and Dublin City Council does not have the supply to offer her a similar home.
Ms Wellard said she used inheritance money from her late mother of up to €50,000 to pay for her home to adapted.
When she moved back into her home after the works were completed she found out the following day that a compulsory purchase order would be made.
"I only slept in my newly refurnished apartment for one night before finding out that TII wanted to demolish it," she said.
She criticised TII for delays in receiving braille documents and for carrying out a survey against her wishes.
A number of TII representatives attending the hearing said it was a very difficult decision but 11 options have been explored.
TII representative Michael Horan said a number of meetings had been held with Dublin City Council over the years and suitable accommodation will be found "within the council landbank, as close as possible to where they currently reside".
Assistant Chief Architect Sarah O’Donnell, admitted there had been a delay in getting braille material to Ms Wellard but said very specialised technology was needed for the mapping elements of the documents.
She said a supplier was found in the UK who convert drawing material.
