Government set to greenlight Dublin terminal

THE Government is on the verge of giving the go-ahead for a second terminal at Dublin Airport, Transport Minister Martin Cullen has indicated.

Rebounding from the Monica Leech controversy with a vengeance yesterday, Mr Cullen said he was ready to go to Cabinet with a proposal to construct the long-awaited second terminal at Dublin Airport.

“I hope now to be in a position very shortly for Cabinet to sign off on that issue,” he said.

The move should end a two-year wait since the Department of Transport first asked for proposals on a second terminal in February 2003.

A decision on the terminal was also delayed due to the priority the Government attached to the break-up of Aer Rianta.

Questioned in the Dáil yesterday, Mr Cullen declined to confirm whether Dublin’s terminals would be competing with each other in order to maximise their potential.

However, in a strong indication that competing terminals would be sanctioned, Mr Cullen said such an option was very much “in the mix”.

Responding to queries from Paudge Connolly, Mr Cullen said he had not considered the possibility of opening up Baldonell as a second airport for Dublin.

“I have given no consideration at this stage to the issue of Baldonnell. I’m focusing exclusively on increasing capacity at Dublin by producing a second terminal.”

Mr Cullen also pledged to bring a series of proposals aimed at improving the transport infrastructure of North Dublin to Cabinet by next month.

Although many measures - including a metro to Dublin Airport and additional rail services - were announced earlier this week by Junior Transport Minister Ivor Callely, Mr Cullen declined to confirm any of the planned measures, saying his colleague’s announcements had not been based in fact.

However, he said it would be wrong to think of an airport metro in isolation from all the other transport needs of the area.

“North Dublin is clearly in need of a huge investment in a transport system,” he said.