Runway consultation process set to begin

LOCAL residents and communities will be given the opportunity to view Dublin Airport’s new runway plans at first-hand in the coming weeks. 

The Dublin Airport Authority (daa) will be hosting two public information and consultation events in Swords and Malahide, starting on June 24. 

The 3,110m North Runway was granted planning permission in 2007 and will be located within existing daa lands.

However, there is concern in some communities about how the new runway might impact on local residents.

Dublin Airport Authority spokeswoman Siobhan O’Donnell said that given the strategic importance of this project to the country and in particular to Fingal, the daa would like to share information about its plans with all interested parties, “most especially our neighbours in the community with whom we continue to work closely”.

“A team from daa, together with external experts, will be available to share information in relation to the North Runway and to answer any questions that attendees may have,” said Ms O’Donnell. 

It’s expected that the North Runway will see the creation of 31,200 new jobs over the next 20 years, as well as contributing an extra €2.2 billion to the Irish economy. 

The daa said the development of the runway will allow the airport to grow for the benefit of the Irish economy by supporting additional trade, tourism and foreign direct investment in Ireland. 

The North Runway is also a highly significant strategic project for the Fingal area, which has been a major beneficiary of the economic activity at Dublin Airport.

In 2015, over 25 million passengers used Dublin Airport, the highest number in its history. 

The airport currently supports approximately 97,000 jobs, one-quarter of which is held by Fingal residents.

The daa has said previously that two of the existing runway planning conditions impact the airport’s ability to accommodate future demand at key operational times. 

This would mean that the airport would have less capacity with two runways during these key periods than it currently has with one.

The daa said it intends to enter a process to address these two “onerous conditions” and to retain the operating flexibility that currently exists at Dublin Airport. 

As part of this process, the daa will be preparing an Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) and is inviting members of the public to identify matters that they would like it to take into consideration when developing this EIS. 

The EIS will be the focus of a further public engagement process, which is likely to take place in the autumn.

•The public consultation events will take place at: Roganstown Hotel & Country Club, Naul Road, Swords, on Friday, June 24 from 1pm to 8pm, and Saturday, June 25 from 10am to 6pm; and the Grand Hotel, Malahide on Friday July 1 from 1pm to 8pm, and Saturday, July 2 from 10am to 6pm.