Queue cleared quickly after talks
When all the talking was done and fire-fighting and security personal returned to work, the queue was cleared within 20 minutes.
All 26 flights in and out of the airport carrying just over 3,000 passengers were suspended between 2pm and 3pm when the mass meeting of SIPTU workers took place.
Thousands of passengers travelling to and from Ireland found that their flights were delayed because of the knock-on effect.
Ryanair said 82 of their flights in and out of Dublin were delayed, disrupting the travel plans of approximately 10,000 passengers.
Aer Lingus said all their flights were quickly back to normal after about an hour.
BMI said they experienced delays from 15 minutes to half-an-hour for some time after flights resumed.
Many travellers who joined the departure queues were bemused by the situation, while others already aware that flights were delayed, decided to carry on regardless.
Pauline and David Johnson from Swords arrived with their two children, Gavin, 6, and Robert, 10, for their flight to Alicante in Spain.
Pauline, who booked the family holiday last January, was feeling more than a bit put out, but did not want the children to get upset and decided to just carry on as normal.
Margaret Barnes from Fermoy, Co Cork and her 10-year-old granddaughter, Jessie Twomey, had just flown in from Munich in Germany and were due to get a connecting flight to Cork.
"I logged onto the Irish Examiner website at 7am this morning in Munich and knew there might be some disruption in Dublin, so we were prepared for a bit of a wait," said Ms Barnes. Liam Halloran, a Dublin businessman, was none too pleased that his flight to London had been delayed as it meant that he had to cancel a number of meetings planned that evening.
"I have never seen queues like this before. Travellers should be made suffer because a trade union wants to meet and discuss the proposed break-up of Aer Rianta," said
Mr Halloran. "I also think the trade unions are overreacting. They have plenty of time to reach a solution."
Sarah Connell from Birmingham, but originally from Currafin, Co Clare, was returning home from her nephew's funeral in Portarlington, Co Laois. "I think it is just terrible that we are being put out, but I do feel sorry for the workers involved. The Taoiseach, Bertie Ahern, should get in there and sort it out."
Emma Thompson and Chris Watts from Hampshire in England were returning home after spending a long weekend in Dublin.
The delay was nothing new to the couple they had queued for an a hour at Heathrow for no apparent reason. Even with all the hanging around in airports they still managed to enjoy their Irish visit.
