The toll to cross the Tom Clarke Bridge in Dublin is “illegal”, a local councillor has claimed. 

The East-Link Toll Bridge, as it is also known, was built in 1984 and connects Ringsend on the southside and North Wall on the northside. 

Built by a private company, Dublin City Council took ownership of it in 2015 and renamed the following year to honour 1916 Rising hero Thomas Clarke. 

Despite the fact it is now publicly owned, cars are still charged a toll of €2.30 to cross the bridge - a fee that independent Councillor Mannix Flynn believes should be quickly abolished.

“When do you stop paying for something? When do you become the owner of this situation?” he told The Pat Kenny Show. 

“Dublin City Council are on to a good thing and, as I say, I think if they got the chance they’d charge you to go across the Ha’Penny Bridge.” 

Tom Clarke toll bridge spanning the River Liffey. 

Since 2016, tolls from the bridge have generated €96.7 million in revenue. 

Last year alone, the figure stood at €16 million. 

“The bridge came back into the care and trust and ownership of Dublin City Council,” Cllr Flynn said. 

“Instead of actually having no toll on this particular bridge, Dublin City Council saw a nice little earner and decided to keep this toll going. 

“In my opinion, this is unlawful, illegal; it’s an extra kind of tax on the motor vehicle. 

“It’s an extra financial burden on those who want to get about the city; basically, I think it’s absolutely wrong.” 

'Free within 15-years'

Locals on either side of the river remain grateful the bridge exists - but remember promises from long ago that one day it would be free to drive across. 

“I remember them telling us in 1984 that it was going to be free within 15-years,” local man Anthony McDonald recalled.  

“That always was in my head and that’s never happened.” 

Dublin City Council has been contacted for comment.

Main image: The East Link Toll Bridge linking Ringsend to the North Wall in Dublin. Picture by: Alamy.com