IRELAND is facing a slump in the number of revellers flying in for St Patrick’s celebrations because of the passenger cap.
Dublin Airport operator DAA predicted the arrival of around 600,000 passengers between last Wednesday and this coming Tuesday – down from over 610,000 in the same period last year.
Media relations manager Graeme McQueen said: “It’s clear that the cap is having an impact.”
The reduced forecast comes as DAA renews calls for the 32million restriction to be lifted.
However, on Monday, Fingal councillors again locked horns with airport bosses over planning applications and noise concerns.
Here, Liam O’Gradaigh, of St Margaret’s The Ward Residents Group, tells The Irish Sun what it’s like living next to the giant transport hub.
WHEN you are dealing with public health, you must make sure that nothing is left to chance.
When you are involved with State bodies — commercial semi-State or State — you would share the view that what is in the public interest is in the State’s interests.
But in the instance of residents living adjacent to Dublin Airport and its new runway, you would have to question whether the well-being of local people is at centre stage.
In a nutshell, what has happened is that in operating flights from the new North Runway, the Dublin Airport Authority (DAA), which manages the airport, has been playing fast and loose with the planning process.
When the North Runway opened in 2022, there were two conditions attached to it that restricted aircraft movements.
One was a ban on flights between 11pm and 7am, and a limit of 65 night-time flights on the remaining runways.
The DAA have used the courts to get a stay on the 65 night flights issue.
They also are not adhering to the passenger cap of 32million. They handled 34.6million passengers last year.
It is bad enough that the air cap has been flouted, but this has been compounded with operating rogue flights over residential estates.
FLIGHT PATHS CHANGED
The flight paths that had been agreed, and avoided most people’s homes, have been changed, impacting on 30,000 residents.
The planners were told by the DAA that the proposed flight paths were effectively recommended by the flights regulator, the Irish Aviation Authority, on safety grounds.
The IAA say they did no such thing.
The planners have a decision to make.
Do they accept the new flight paths based on the mistaken belief that they were effectively ordered by the IAA on safety grounds, or reject them?
‘PEOPLE’S HEALTH IS SUFFERING’
It is abundantly clear that the process that led to the draft plans was based on mistaken information and the flight paths must now be rejected.
These flight paths are currently operating and they must be stopped.
While all of this is going on, local people’s health is suffering. The European Environment Agency has placed environmental noise at number two as an environmental cause of death after air pollution.
Its impact during daytime can be debilitating.
But at night time, it can be far worse.
‘DEVASTATING IMPACT’
Lack of sleep and interrupted sleep patterns have a devastating impact on people’s long-term health.
Against this backdrop, the DAA are blaming everyone for their own woes.
They continue crying in the media about the airport cap of 32million passengers annually and delays on expanding the airport to 40million passengers.
The simple fact is that the local planning authority, Fingal County Council, cannot advance any decision on approving an increased passenger capacity at the airport because they don’t have the information on the impact of noise in the locality.
DATA DELAY
The DAA is obliged to provide that noise impact data to the noise regulator, which then reports it to Fingal County Council.
This data was requested over 12 months ago.
Many are now suggesting that the reason this data is not being provided is because DAA are operating these rogue flight paths over people’s homes from the new runway.
The time has come for an independent investigation into just what is going on.
The DAA must be made to adhere to all the planning conditions.
