Sir, - I worked for 42 years at Dublin Airport, yet even then, when the largest aircraft in operation was the DC3, I decided to live on the southside of the city; my reason was to avoid the noise of overflying aircraft.
The noise level at that time was puny compared with today, and the frequency of flights now must be thousands times greater than in the 1940s. As Dublin airport was built around 1912, it was there long before the present build-up on the northside. If you know that there is an airport in the vicinity when you go to live somewhere, you cannot complain about the fact. There was no airport on the southside when the half-million of us choose to live there.
Dublin gets noisier and noisier by the day. We have helicopters over us most of the day and the sirens of ambulances and Garda cars would suggest that a major catasatrophe was taking place every few hours. Here in Mount Merrion, where there was once peace, we are now to be threatened with the development of Baldonnel as a major airport.
Do the people of the southside realise the implications? Aircraft are not supposed to fly below 2,000 feet over the city, but if they are to land and take off from Baldonnel, they will cross over our heads at 500 to 600 feet as they climb out on full power, or make a final approach to land. The noise level will be appalling. Baldonnel is within the built-up city area.
Every group living on the southside should be looking out to prevent the end of peaceful living if this project goes ahead. However, as we Irish have no sense of outrage, and seldom do anything about anything that matters, I expect that soon my house will be showing cracks caused by the vibrations of aircraft just over my head. - Yours, etc.
Dermot C. Clarke, Wilson Road, Mount Merrion, Co Dublin.