The Client required that a planning application be submitted to Dublin City Council in respect of a proposed mural at the Aviva Stadium. A key stakeholder to the application is Iarnród Éireann, who control a section of the site where the mural is proposed to be painted, and the Irish Rugby Football Union (IRFU), who both provided consent for the Application. Tom Phillips + Associates (TPA) provided strategic planning advice to the Applicant and served as the Agent for the Planning Application.

A largescale mural was proposed to create a more visually attractive and appealing space. Commissioned in collaboration by New Stadium Ltd (Aviva Stadium) and Iarnród Éireann, it was to be painted on a section of wall external to the Aviva Stadium, opposite the Lansdowne Road DART Station and on the inside of the railway tunnel which travels along the western part of the stadium grounds. The wall is partially visible to the public and passers-by, while the tunnel is largely shielded from view (with the exception of train passengers and Irish Rail workers who are authorised to carry out maintenance works on the train tracks and its related infrastructure). In recent years, it has been subjected to ongoing graffiti, vandalism and ‘street tagging’. This has resulted in significant capital costs being incurred by Aviva Stadium and Iarnród Éireann as part of repeated clean-up operations and maintenance/repair work.

For the first phase of the mural, work was concentrated on the ‘bookends’, the two large walls situated at either end of the Aviva Stadium. Wall One depicts the image of an urban fox, which are regularly spotted within the areas of city centre stations and has been created by artist and illustrator Dan Leo. The image of an Urban Hawk created by Artists for All City Records, is now in place on Wall Two situated at the North end of Tunnel. These dramatic images tower over DARTs as they pass, and can be viewed as crowds enter the stadium. Phase 2 will concentrate on the central area of the tunnel and it is planned to have this completed in early 2021.