Residents in the vicinity of Dublin Airport are to meet Minister for Transport Darragh O’Brien to press their concerns around planning and environmental issues related to air traffic.
Mr O’Brien has already met several aviation organisations and business groups and is due to continue engagements over the coming weeks.
The Government is in favour of lifting Dublin’s 32 million annual passenger cap and the Department of Transport is working on a new national aviation policy, which is expected by early 2026.
[ Health cost of noise at Dublin Airport put at €800mOpens in new window ]
The meeting on Wednesday with the St Margaret’s The Ward Residents’ Group is thought to be his first with community representatives.
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“We’re all about proper planning and sustainability,” said its spokesman Liam O’Gradaigh.
“We want to make sure that the Minister is also wearing his Department of Environment and Climate hat – that he fully understands the health impacts associated with Fingal residents and east Meath and that he listens to us and that he follows proper planning.”
Mr O’Brien is also Minister for the Environment and many north county Dublin residents angered by developments at the country’s main airport live in his Dublin Fingal East constituency.
A spokesman for Mr O’Brien said the programme for government included a “strong commitment” that relevant agencies would engage with communities affected by noise, flight movements and airport operations.
The group will raise health concerns based on a report it commissioned from PMCA Economic Consulting, which claimed local aircraft noise brought a human “health cost” of almost €800 million and causes cardiovascular issues for thousands.
They will appeal to Mr O’Brien’s responsibilities in environmental policy and highlight a planning submission from airport operator DAA where modelling shows that raising the passenger cap from 32 million to 36 million people annually would increase CO₂ emissions by more than 276,000 tonnes in 2026.
Other concerning issues on the group’s agenda are its opposition to night-time flights, and the flight paths from the airport’s second runway, which have caused considerable local disquiet since beginning three years ago.
It will raise a planning submission from the Irish Aviation Authority (IAA) to An Bord Pleanála that said it had assessed and approved instrument flight procedures (IFPs) relating to flight paths, but that this “should not be confused with any suggestion that these specific IFPs were required by the IAA, or that the IAA thinks that they are the optimal flightpaths, whether from a safety perspective or otherwise”.
About climate issues, the Minister’s spokesman said the State strongly supports the policy objective of reducing aviation emissions. Measures would include aircraft technology and operations improvements, and the increased development of sustainable aviation fuels.
In the Dáil last week, Mr O’Brien raised the issue of additional capacity at regional airports and said there was a need for an updated 10-year national aviation policy. The St Margaret’s The Ward group believes it should have more involvement in its formulation. An update of the regional airports programme from 2026 to 2030 is also due.
Mr O’Brien said that the current stay on Dublin’s passenger cap, due to a related European Court of Justice case, will probably remain in place for most of 2026.
