Sir, – When I arrived at Dublin Airport at about 5pm last Saturday, the airport appeared to be relatively quiet – until I reached the passport hall, which was crowded with long, snaking queues. Almost half of the passport control booths were closed, and it took over 25 minutes to reach one of the functioning booths. I was annoyed as an Irish citizen with the poor level of service, but even more mortified to hear the comments of the large group of French tourists on my flight.
Fáilte Ireland and the tourism industry work hard to attract foreign visitors, and then we shoot ourselves in the foot by creating such a poor first impression of our country. Could the Minister for Justice and the Minister for Tourism engage in some joined-up thinking before the summer season to resolve the staffing issues at the airport? Ironically, the airport had to deploy additional staff to manage the large queues in the passport hall. – Yours, etc,
JH MARTIN,
Sandycove,
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Co Dublin.