NOIRÍN Ní Mhurchú had only one thought on her mind as she landed in Galway yesterday, having risen in the darkest hours before dawn to make the Christmas journey home.
“There’s proper snow for the first time in decades on the Aran Islands, but no planes out,” she said. “We have to get to see it – they rarely even get frost! I’m told the ferry is running, but we might have to call on the lifeboat yet!”
Ms Ní Mhurchú, a nurse, had travelled from London, to stay with family outside Spiddal. The plan was to celebrate the new year with friends on Inishmore.
However, the island commuter flights have been grounded for almost a week, due to severe conditions at the mainland airstrip in Inverin, and medical evacuations from the islands to Galway University Hospital have been facilitated by ferry and by lifeboat volunteers with the Royal National Lifeboat Institution.
Over on the eastern side of the city, Galway airport has remained open during this most recent big chill – while coping with delayed arrivals and departures.
About 60 passengers who arrived in with Aer Arann from Luton yesterday afternoon showed little signs of the stress experienced by air travellers elsewhere.
Annmarie Eaton and her husband Scott, who works in the film industry, had flown in with two small children, Michael (2) and Daniel (1).
“The trip was fine, really no hitches,” Ms Eaton said. “We just have to make the last leg of it now to Ballinasloe.
“I always fly Luton-Galway and avoid Dublin – it makes such a difference, and I’m really glad of it now,” Aoife Dooley said. A bar manager with The Hoop and Grapes pub in London city centre, she has been working away for over six years.
Her neighbour from Galway’s Ardilaun Road, accountant Alan Thornton, was on the same flight. He has been employed in England for the past three months. “It was a very easy journey, with only an hour delay,” he said. “We’re just delighted to be home.”
Equally happy were three generations of one family – Ray and Susan Burke, now living in Houston, Texas, their son Tony and his partner Dawn, and grandchild Poppy.
“We’re here to celebrate Christmas at my folks’ home in Salthill – the Burkes and Cunninghams together,” Ray Burke explained, adding that he bore “no relationship” to the former politician who shares his name.
“Yes, we’ve been hearing a lot about Ireland in Texas, and it sounds frightening,” he said. “Everything looks fine on the surface, with people driving cars and wearing new clothes.
“But I guess it might be a bit different in the next two to three years.”
Outside the terminal at Carnmore there was a brief fall of snow, but temperatures rose to zero by early afternoon. Marketing manager Michael Moloney said that regional airports were well able to meet the challenge posed by the weather conditions, and Aer Arann had put on extra flights over the past few days to facilitate people who had been caught in backlogs elsewhere.
Travellers using smaller airports also have better access to information, he pointed out. “We had people in Luton ringing us to find out what is going back over there,” he said. Galway airport handles up to 165,000 passengers annually, with two airlines – Aer Arann and Manx2. It recently secured a vital State subvention for next year.