Dublin Airport expansion: Shannon and Cork worthy of funds too

Sod-turning on a major new development usually brings with it an air of excitement — and when that development is an airport expansion, the mood is even more elevated. A busy airport signals you’ve arrived — as a destination, as an attractive investment proposition, as a country that’s on the up.

So expect lots of smiles when Taoiseach Leo Varadkar and Transport Minister Shane Ross pose for the cameras at the official commencement of work on the North Runway at Dublin Airport tomorrow.

But without raining on the parade, it is necessary to push at least a cloud of caution over this particular development.

The spatial strategies of the past, the national development plan for the future, our census statistics, and our own everyday lived experience tell us that development in this country is lopsided. Dublin gets bigger so it needs more resources so it gets more investment so it attracts more activity so it gets bigger and the cycle continues.

The Dublin Airport Authority (DAA) makes a convincing case for the new runway and there is no reason to doubt its projections for the extra business, greater efficiency, and increased revenue the investment will generate.

But could those same objectives not also be achieved by better use of Cork and Shannon Airports? They too are experiencing growth so this is not a cry for help to artificially prop up failing businesses. They are actively seeking to secure new routes and increased passenger numbers so it is not as if they aren’t being self-reliant and resourceful.

In the same way that success follows success at Dublin Airport, could those very attributes not be a reason to consider looking more at Cork and Shannon as locations to bring smiling ministers? Access to and from Dublin Airport is challenging and not even the arrival of MetroLink — even if it does make its 2027 target — will not substantially change that.

It wouldn’t unduly inconvenience passengers to redirect some of the anticipated new business away from Dublin, and it shouldn’t hurt Dublin, which will always be the country’s number one international airport.

But it would allow for the more even dispersal of investment and jobs and all the development that comes along with that: The housing, schools, and transport that Dublin struggles to provide.

The decision to take Shannon out of DAA control in recent years, and to provide for the future potential removal of Cork, does not necessarily need to be reversed.

But the Government does need to take a bird’s eye view of the country’s airports instead of enjoying the restricted vista from the executive lounge of Dublin Airport.

They should be seen as three complementary, not competing, parts of a national infrastructure network. Yes, they are businesses and must work to their strengths and natural advantages over each other, but they are also potential drivers of something even more uplifting and important than the occasion that will have Mr Varadkar and Mr Ross beaming tomorrow — balanced regional development.