A teenage Sligo squash champion narrowly made it to an international competition in Wales today after she was prevented from boarding a Ryanair flight in Dublin.
Ms Aoife Kerrin (16), who is ranked first on the Irish squash team in her age group, was unable to travel to Cardiff yesterday because she did not have a passport or other form of photographic identification.
Although there is free movement for Irish and British nationals within the common travel area Ireland shares with the UK, the no-frills airline will only carry passengers with photographic identification.
Ryanair would not accept a faxed copy of the schoolgirl's passport which was stamped and countersigned by the duty sergeant at Sligo Garda station, Ms Kerrin's father said last night.
Dr Kerrin said she and her friends were very upset by the ordeal, with Aoife openly crying at the airport at the thought of missing the important Welsh Open competition.
The GP, who had intended only to drop-off his daughter at the airport, had to accompany her on a sailing to Hollyhead and she made her own way to Cardiff by train.
Dr Kerrin accused Ryanair of being "grossly unreasonable" in preventing his daughter from taking the flight, despite having received a faxed copy of her passport. He said he would be "most reluctant" to travel with the low-fares airline again. "It appears to be an obstructive policy for commercial gain and it doesn't seem to take into account other sensibilities," he said.
However, a spokeswoman for Ryanair dismissed these claims. She said passengers were advised of the identification requirements before and while booking flights by telephone. The airline's website states that "all passengers must present valid photo identification at check-in for all flights including domestic flights and routes between Ireland and the UK."
"I can appreciate the circumstances but the terms and conditions are in place for a reason, in the interests of other passengers as well as the crew, particularly in the heightened security environment," the spokeswoman added.
The €100 flight had been booked over the internet by a family friend and Dr Kerrin had not been aware of Ryanair's policy on photographic identification, he said.