Irish Examiner view: We live in the century of the self

Airport drones 

Flying a drone near an airport is both 'incredibly selfish' and illegal — and yet some persist in doing it. File picture: Tobias Schwarz/AFP/Getty

The importance of self-validation seems to be everywhere in our age of unbridled solipsism. One’s personal experience takes precedence over all other considerations, and at times the primacy of the self seems so overpowering as to be a catch-all explanation for every behaviour imaginable.

The parallel capacity to shut out the importance of shared responsibilities was seen to sharp effect this week at Dublin Airport. It is illegal to fly a drone within 5km of an airport, yet this week flights have been disrupted due to a drone being operated in the vicinity of the airport runway.