First impressions last — and a shabby airport is one

THE new Cork airport terminal should be state-of-the-art. A huge amount of money went into its construction, yet it has many of the hallmarks of a provincial affair in a less than developed country.

I suppose the new addition is moderately impressive as airports go, but a good airport is surely more than bricks and mortar or steel, glass and, in this case, a lot of wood.

Although spacious, the interior is actually quite dull and boring, badly in need of a coat of paint and an infusion of imaginative symbolism that connects the passenger to the very reason for the building’s existence. If you’ve been to Changi airport in Singapore recently or, dare I say it, Terminal 5 at Heathrow, you’ll get my drift.