'It's about time!' - Dublin Airport sees 77,000 walk through its doors for St Patrick's Day

Passengers at Dublin Airport have been filled with excitement and anticipation as they look forward to the extended St Patrick’s Day holiday weekend.

For many of the estimated 77,000 people both arriving and departing between today and Sunday, it was the first time since the pandemic began two years ago that they were able to get away.

For accountant Caiman Mangan (25), from Killarney, Co Kerry, the double bank holiday gave him and his friends an opportunity to try skiing in Andorra. “I’m delighted. It’s about time,” he said.

Fellow accountant Greg Fay (26), from Dungarvan, Co Waterford, said the ski trip will be the first time he has travelled in two years. “Thank God,” he said.

His friend and colleague Aodan Ogden (26), from Kinsale, Co Cork, agreed. “It’s the first trip in two years. We’re delighted,” he said.

For Mark Vella (53), from Dublin, his wife Allesandra (51) and their children Dario (14) and Valentina (13), their biggest worry was having to kill more than three hours at the airport after arriving several hours early ahead of their flight to the UK last night.

“I expected it to be really busy. We thought it would be jam-packed,” said Mr Vella.

Despite reports of queues at the departure gates earlier in the day, there was just a trickle of passengers going through at teatime yesterday. But Mr Vella, who is originally from the UK, said the family was just happy to be travelling again and he was looking forward to seeing his 91-year-old mother and meeting his 18-month-old nephew for the first time.

The Dublin Airport Authority, meanwhile, expects 800,000 passengers will have travelled through the airport between March 12 and 24, the busiest period since the start of the pandemic in 2020.

Not even a bit of rain is likely to dampen the spirits of people turning out for the parades nationwide. Met Éireann meteorologist Matthew Martin said the weather on St Patrick’s Day this year looks “very typical” for this time of year.

“The temperatures we’re getting, like 10C to 14C, are exactly what you’d expect for March. I know some St Patrick’s Days you get very varied weather. One year I think there was snow on the 18th, so this year it’s typical March weather with temperatures bang on the average for March,” he said.

It will be mostly cloudy with showery rain moving eastwards across the country today. Through the afternoon, drier and brighter weather will follow from the west with showers becoming isolated and sunny spells developing.

President Michael D Higgins said in his message to mark the occasion: “On this St Patrick’s Day 2022, as once again the darkness of war rather than the extension of peace covers our world, may I send, as Uachtarán na hÉireann, my warmest greetings and sincere good wishes to our Irish family across the world, and to all those who have been, remain and are working to be such good friends to Ireland.

“May the resilience of our people over the generations be available to all those who will need it now.”

Meanwhile, the leaders of the two main Christian churches in Ireland said yesterday that parishes north and south of the Border are coming together “to open hearts and doors in welcome” to refugees fleeing “such horrors” in Ukraine. In their joint message, the Catholic Archbishop of Armagh Eamon Martin and Archbishop John McDowell, the Church of Ireland Archbishop of Armagh, said many individuals and parish communities have already been extremely generous to projects in Ukraine, and along its borders, supporting refugees and those remaining in their homeland despite the war.

They said it would be “unconscionable for us to celebrate the feast of St Patrick this year without offering the solidarity of our prayers, charity and welcome for the people of Ukraine”.