Visiting dignitaries should not land at Dublin Airport in the mid- morning because welcoming ceremonies and guards of honour were delaying flights, Dublin Airport’s operator urged the Government in 1993.
Newly released files from the National Archives show that Aer Rianta lodged its views with the Government after passengers in 1992 were unable to disembark flights on the day the German president Richard von Weizacker landed.
Noting that the then-operator had faced a significant number of complaints from affected passengers, a senior Aer Rianta executive, Don Treacy, said all activity on the tarmac had to halt for such ceremonies, usually lasting 15 minutes.
Expressing concern that the arrival of dignitaries in the summer months would happen when Dublin Airport was at its busiest, he asked if it was possible to ensure that VIP arrivals happened at a time other than mid-morning.
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Aer Rianta was happy to accommodate VIP arrivals, but there had been complaints and he wanted to try to improve the situation before it became too difficult. Pilots were annoyed because they had to switch off engines to keep noise down during ceremonies, he said.
VIP landings could not continue to affect the airport in this way indefinitely, he said, adding that changes would have to be made anyway for up to 30 months because the VIP suite needed to move due to the construction of a new pier building later in 1993.
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However, the Department of Foreign Affairs’ chief of protocol, Brendan Moran, was unable to offer much comfort, saying that VIP landings always happened mid-morning to allow time for visits to Áras an Uachtaráin and a wreath-laying ceremony at the Garden of Remembrance.
Moran said it might be possible, though, subject to the President’s agreement, to move welcoming ceremonies to Áras an Uachtaráin instead of the airport if it was proving too disruptive for Aer Rianta.
Outside of the Áras, however, the options were limited since there was no official Taoiseach’s residence, while the courtyard of Government Buildings was too small, and the street outside on Merrion Street too busy.
Commandant Hugo Bonar said military ceremonies could not be carried out in the courtyard of Government Buildings, while Moran observed that they would disrupt civil servants working nearby if they did happen there.
Similarly, holding a guard of honour on Merrion Street would prove disruptive to traffic, although it was acknowledged that such disruption would not be excessive and would probably only occur once or twice a year.
In a letter to the Department of the Taoiseach on March 25th, 1993, Comdt Bonar said he would have no difficulty with a move to another part of Dublin Airport subject to space, surface and safety conditions being satisfied.
Equally, he had no objection to military ceremonials being rendered at Áras an Uachtaráin but shared the concerns of the Department of Foreign Affairs about the limitation of Government Buildings.
Welcoming the willingness of Aer Rianta to offer alternative locations within the airport, he remarked: “The Defence Forces finds that there is much to our advantage in continuing the rendering of ceremonial honours there.”
