Record airport journeys? Spare a thought for us living below

‘Record passenger numbers through Cork and Dublin airports in July’ read the headline.

If you own a B&B, hotel, or a restaurant, you might rub your palms together gleefully at the thought of more prospective customers landing at Cork Airport and potentially coming through your door.

But if you are someone who lives in the shadow of Cork Airport’s flight paths and is disturbed by the roaring noise of departing aircraft day and night, it is a headline that will make your stomach drop.

The Irish tourism sector is worth more than €7 billion to the national economy and in 2023 overseas visitors contributed around €635 million to the Cork region. Cork Airport recorded over three million passengers in 2024.

Tourism is a vital part of cities, towns, and villages around the country. But when expanding passenger numbers at Dublin and Cork’s airports seems to be the core mission of the DAA (which runs Cork and Dublin airport),, how much say do residents have about the inevitable disruptive noise more flights would bring?

At a time when over-tourism sparks protests in holiday hotspots around Europe, it raises the question - when is enough?

The beauty of Cork Airport is in its small size - you can get in and out with ease and fly to an impressive array of destinations without the torturous delays and logistics of bigger airports.

So how can Cork Airport reconcile the needs of Corkonians who want to live in peace with the relentless pursuit of increased passenger numbers?

Recent data from the DAA shows a 15% rise in passenger numbers through Cork Airport compared to July of last year - 378,000 people travelling through the terminal.

Many of those are émigrés returning for their summer visit to granny. Some are Italian or French families coming to Ireland to escape the dangerous heatwaves of continental Europe and enjoy our non-scorchio weather. Some are Cork residents on their way to, or back from, an adventure abroad.

We are glad to see them come through the arrival gates but if ‘boosting growth’ means more and more flights coming in over Bishopstown, Wilton, Glasheen, Ballincollig, Ballygarvan, Carrigaline, Kinsale and surrounding areas, with the ensuing noise disturbance, I don’t know if ‘increased capacity’ is really what we want. Is it?

Growing up in Bishopstown, directly under the airport flight path, ‘plane’ was one of the first words I uttered. When one is ferociously roaring up into the sky, it is hard to ignore.

The noise does blend into the background in the general hum of the day, but in the early morning and late night it definitely disturbs the peace.

In winter, the 6am flight to Amsterdam often wakes me prematurely early, but now the 5.45am-ish flight to Dubrovnik or Paris or Zadar is noisily roaring over the city.

There are so many stories of residents living under Dublin Airport’s flight paths complaining of being blasted out of it by intolerable aircraft noise, that the thoughts of ever-increasing flights landing in Cork in the future worries me.

Is the right of airports and airlines to increase their profits greater than the right of citizens and residents to a quiet environment?

Not to mention the considerable environmental impact of the aviation industry on the climate crisis.

More than 700 million passengers have travelled through Dublin Airport since the first flight took off there in January, 1940, bound for Liverpool 85 years ago.

Cork, Shannon and Dublin Airports are crucially important for connecting us to the rest of the world, but as Cork Airport develops, finding a true balance between tourism and trade, growth and profit and peace and quiet will help it soar into the future.

But for the love of God - no flights before 6am!

Do Not Forget Gaza

Concerns of over-tourism or noise pollution are trifling first world problems against the backdrop of the genocide in Gaza.

In the stream of distressing stories and images coming out of the besieged region, the killing of journalist Anas al-Sharif, of Al Jazeera along with three of his colleagues in a deliberate Israeli airstrike moved me to tears.

This war is the deadliest conflict for media workers ever recorded - more than 230 Palestinian journalists killed since Oct 7ober 7, 2023.

Imagine if 230 journalists were killed in Ireland in that time-frame.

Al-Sharif knew by reporting to the world what Israel is doing to Gaza that he was at grave risk, but he continued. His prepared statement in the event of his death was published at the weekend.

“I entrust you with the apple of my eye, my beloved daughter Sham, whom time did not grant me to see grow as I had dreamed. I entrust you with my dear son Salah, whom I wished to support and be a companion for until he grew strong, to carry the burden from me and continue the mission.”

If they survive starvation and bombing, his children will grow up with a hole in their hearts for the father who was killed so callously while trying to shine a light on what was happening to his people.

Al-Sharif urges us: “Do not forget Gaza” - and to keep him in our prayers.

Praying and protesting have often felt futile as the situation deteriorates daily and the body count mounts.

Boycotting is a tangible way of expressing revulsion at what is happening in Gaza. Boycott, Divestment, Sanctions (BDS) is a movement promoting non-violent resistance against Israel’s violations of international law and Palestinian rights.

Check out the website bdsmovement.net and see what companies are complicit in supporting Israel’s genocidal campaign.

Diverting your spending power away from companies on the BDS list is a way to put pressure on Israel.

It means avoiding certain brands, changing things like your insurance provider, or ditching where you grab a coffee or burger for an establishment not connected to the brutal war.

It is a small act to do to honour people like Anas al-Sharif and his beautiful, heartbroken family.