A council asked the body which runs Dublin Airport to stop “lampooning” it in public and “lashing out” in a bitter dispute over a controversial passenger cap.
In private discussions, Fingal County Council said it had been asked many times to speak publicly about the limit but had instead always “kept [its] counsel.” However, the authority said it was time for the daa to “dial down” rhetoric on the subject and work together for a solution.
An email from FCC’s head of communications said: “It may be the DAA’s objective to have Dublin Airport classified as strategic national infrastructure, but that’s not how it is right now and publicly lampooning the council and its staff to support the argument doesn’t help to foster good relations.”
His message, which was sent in mid-January, added that with a new government, the time could be right for all involved to start working together for a solution to the passenger cap controversy.
The email continued: “It would be much better if the public image is one of stakeholders working in partnership for the good of the country and its people rather than being at loggerheads and lashing each other in the media.”
Relations between the council and the DAA have soured over the 32 million passenger cap currently in place at the airport. The limit was put in place as part of planning permission for a second terminal but management at the airport and major airlines want it increased dramatically.
Late last year, the DAA submitted a planning application to have the cap raised to 36m but Fingal County Council deemed it invalid in January.
Records released under FOI by the local authority show how communications staff at Dublin Airport only became aware the application was rejected as the council made their decision public.
The request from FCC for the cap to be dealt with in a “proper business-like manner” has not thawed relations. In an email in late January, a senior council official said it was “regrettable” the DAA had not looked for a
pre-planning meeting before submitting their invalid application. A message from a DAA staff member on January 23 said the “critical nature of this application speaks for itself” and said it was a shame there was no fast-track process for applications from Dublin Airport.
In response, the council’s director of services Matthew McAleese wrote of being “bemused” by an offer from the DAA to make themselves available for a meeting.
He wrote: “You speak of the critical nature of this application in terms of the key needs of the economy, of the travelling public and of the airlines, yet the DAA chose not to have pre-planning with [us).
“You speak of the lack of a fast-track planning process. However, by not proceeding with pre-planning you are failing to avail of any opportunity to identify issues and offer advice in advance of the application being lodged.”
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