I observed with interest that the Aer Lingus 'planes are now taking off from Collinstown, and that the airport buildings are expected to be ready within the next few months.
Collinstown will be an ideal airport for Dublin, and it often has surprised me that its virtues took so long to be recognised. Quite apart from the spaciousness of the field itself and the freedom of its surroundings from obstruction, it is wonderfully handy to Dublin. A friend and myself started one afternoon, when city traffic was heavy, to visit Collinstown. It took us exactly thirteen minutes.
The alternatives to Collinstown as the site of a Dublin airport are now almost forgotten; yet discussion was raging around them only a very few years ago. The two favourites were the Phoenix Park and Merrion Strand.
Personally, I hate to see any encroachments whatever on the Phoenix Park. I understand however, that it was not consideration for the citizens' playground that caused the rejection of the proposal, but the fact that the tall spire of Phibsborough Church would be a decided handicap to aircraft descending into the prevailing wind.
An airport at Merrion Strand would have demanded appalling expenditure for land reclamation, but the deciding factor in this case was the fog which is so frequent there.
On the whole, I think that the authorities never will have cause to regret their choice of Collinstown.
The Irish Times, January 20th, 1940.