Fingal County Council criticises Dublin Airport’s ‘Trumpian’ behaviour

Fingal County Council’s stand-off with the Dublin Airport Authority has continued.

This week’s meeting of Fingal County Council saw the council agree to extend the Dublin Airport Area Plan to 2030 but expressed major concerns with the future direction of the airport over the passenger cap row.

Chief Executive of Fingal County Council AnnMarie Farrelly said, “within the Dublin Airport Local Area Plan and the Fingal Development Plan there is a clear recognition of the need to expand the airport’s capacity to 40 million passengers per annum and the necessary framework to achieve this has been established since 2020.”

A December 2023 application which looked to raise the passenger cap to 40 million passengers has been held up as the daa has yet to respond to requests from the Aircraft Noise Competent Authority to carry out a noise assessment.

As a result, the plan to expand the passenger cap remains in limbo, with the Planning Authority unable to make a decision until the daa complies with the request from ANCA.

A separate application, made in Febuary of this year, looked to bump the cap up to 36 million and the plan is currently under assessment by the Planning Authroity along with Fingal County Council, but tensions have been raised as the Planning Authority said they did not receive engagement from the daa during the pre-planning process. 

Last week, ANCA wrote to the Planning Authority, saying that they are of the opinion that the development contains a proposal requiring an assessment for the need for a noise-related action.

Noise impact is a key factor in airport expansion plans, and the requirement for a noise assessment typically arises when applying to increase capacity.

This week, a statement from the daa’s media office claimed that as a result of the passenger cap, numbers were down at Dublin Airport for the St. Patrick’s Day festivities.

Graeme McQueen, media relations manager at daa, said that 400,000 passengers were due to fly into Dublin Airport between March 12 and 18, a drop from 410,000 during the same period in 2024.

“It’s clear that the cap is having an impact,” he claimed.

“Numbers coming to Ireland for St Patrick’s Day will be a little more subdued this year due to the passenger cap, which is currently limiting the number of flights that airlines can operate, while the number of people heading to Cheltenham this week is also down due to airlines not being able to operate as many flights as a result of the cap, which is resulting in higher air fares.”

Mayor of Fingal Brian McDonagh said, “the support shown by councillors to extend the Dublin Airport Local Area Plan shows that Fingal County Council recognises the local, regional and national importance of the airport.”

“However, any development at Dublin Airport must be done within the context of a sustainable growth framework. The Local Area Plan recognises that a careful balance is required between national economic and environmental objectives and the interests of stakeholders and airport-related communities,” the Labour councillor said.

Fine Gael councillor Kieran Dennison told the meeting, “let’s face it, we’re under severe pressure with our planning department as it is, just like every other local authority in trying to complete local area plans.”

“I fear there will be consequences for our other local area plans, like the plan at Dunsink, and there will be knock-on effects on providing housing for the next few years. I’m concerned that if we don’t extend this, people are going to suffer,” the Blanchradstown-Mulhuddart councillor said.

Fianna Fáil councillor JK Onwumereh said that residents around the St. Margarets area need to be listened to with regard to their concerns surrounding airport noise.

“I don’t really see the hurry in approving the extension right now if there’s a chance to review it; it seems the extension will be lapsing in January 2026 when we can actually incorporate the review.”

Independent councillor Jimmy Guerin went one step further, dubbing the behaviour of the daa as “Trumpian.”

“The daa has publicly pointed the finger at Fingal County Council as the cause of the problem;  this is far from acceptable behaviour.”

“The daa is not responsible for planning policy, and it is not above planning regulations or the law,” he said.

“The daa’s Trumpesque approach of making false claims, misrepresenting facts, and incessantly seeking the limelight is harming Ireland’s aviation and tourism sector.”

“Many have been misled into believing that Fingal County Council’s planners are to blame, when in reality, it is the daa’s own failures that have contributed to this mess.”

He criticised what he called “alarmist carry-on,” and he said it was “disrespectful to the planners in Fingal County Council who are exceptional in their work.”

“It often appears that daa’s senior management is keeping its PR department busier than its planning department,” he remarked.

Councillor Guerin said that either the board of the daa or the Minister for Transport should intervene and replace the current senior management team with one that is “solution-focused, collaborative and capable of restoring the positive and productive working relationship that previously existed between the daa and Fingal County Council.”

“These matters are far too important to be left unchecked,” he said.

Guerin said that in meetings with Dublin Airport CEO Kenny Jacobs, Jacobs said that Amsterdam’s Schiphol Airport is an example of how a historic airport can expand in the modern era. 

“He should be the first to understand that Dublin is not in the Netherlands and that different rules apply,” he said.

“Fingal County Council’s elected representatives and executives have worked tirelessly to support Dublin Airport’s growth while balancing the welfare of the local economy and community; we are the first to recognise the importance of Dublin Airport to the Irish economy – for that reason, I am questioning the strategic strength of the daa’s senior leadership.”

“Based on the evidence seen to date, it appears that the current senior leadership of the authority is not the one to properly manage and plan for future passenger growth,” the Howth-Malahide councillor stated.