Sir, - A recent visit to Ireland confirmed me in the view that Dublin airport is gradually descending into complete chaos. Almost the first impression made upon the visitor is the baggage hall - a cross between a North African bazaar and a Russian supermarket before the fall of communism, with a substantial measure of the Ballinasloe horse fair thrown in as well.
The hall was thronged with people pulling bags off the conveyor belts, while the more spacious new extension was still largely unused. After a 10-minute search from one end of the hall to the other I came to the astonishing conclusion that there was not a single baggage trolley available. I joined a queue where I waited to pounce on the few trolleys trickling in from the car-parks outside. The scramble that ensued upon the arrival of about 10 trolleys left most of the 30 or so passengers in the queue, including myself, still trolley-less. In despair I gave up and resolved to collect my bags and drag them out of the airport as best I could.
A week later I was back in the airport for the departing passenger experience. This time there wasn't a single trolley in the rental car return area. I dragged my bags to the terminal building, where I managed to intercept one of the trolleys destined for the baggage-claim area (apologies to all those desperate, tired, recently arrived passengers).
On my flight, I was entertained by a report in The Irish Times (September 9th) of a speech by Mary O'Rourke about developments at the airport, in which she envisaged a metro and rail link to the airport by 2015!
Minister, may I respectfully suggest that the pace of change at Dublin airport is desperately short of the current needs, never mind a decade-and-a-half from now? In the meantime, I suggest that you use all your influence with Aer Rianta to precipitate the acquisition of a few more trolleys. - Yours, etc.,
Aidan Egan, San Jose, California, USA.