There is something strange going on, out at Dublin Airport – and it involves the cops.
I was travelling back from Barcelona recently. The plane arrived more or less on time, and the gangway was attached to the plane to allow passengers direct access to the airport. All very normal.
What happened next, however, was anything but. The passengers were being fed in, above the area where Passport Control is situated. This area is operated by the Garda Immigration Bureau, whose job it is to vet people as they enter the country.
In this instance, the passengers attempting to disembark immediately hit a bottle-neck. It stretched right back into the plane, so that people were left standing in a tightly packed, narrow and over-crowded space. They waited and waited. No one knew what was going on. There was no attempt to inform them. Tempers began to fray. There was pushing and jostling, as young teenage Spanish students pressed their way to the front.
If you were a claustrophobic, the panic button might have gone off. As it was, the distinct possibility of Airside Rage loomed. “They should have a separate area for people with Irish passports,” one passenger moaned. I don’t know if he was being inherently racist or merely trying to come up with a sensible suggestion.
There was more pushing and jostling when we got to the stairs leading down into the immigration area. Impatient people jumped the queue. Others stood with their mouths open. It was a mess that had the potential to end up in a roaring match or even fisticuffs.
Then it became obvious what the problem was. A number of the booths which should have been occupied by Gardai were vacant. There were only two officers on duty, checking the passports – meaning that all of the passengers were being channelled into a narrow area. It was impossible to tell how many people were crushed into the space, as they continued to push and prod their way in – but it was certainly upwards of 500.
“It’s an absolute disgrace,” another passenger fumed.
“It’s the same every day,” his partner said.
“She knows,” he said to me. “She works here.”
“They don’t give a shit,” the woman said.
A couple of American visitors were looking the worse for wear. They were confused and irritated. “We’re supposed to be over there,” the man, seriously overweight and out of breath,” said, pointing at the non-EU sign. But if he and his partner wanted to get there, they’d have to bully their way through a mob, or slink around to the back and lose five minutes or more in extra waiting time. They had a connecting flight to make into the bargain, and no idea where to go. They were at their wit’s end.
I had intended to write about what was a horribly demeaning experience for everyone involved last issue, to highlight the utterly shoddy way in which people are being treated at Immigration Control – until the Israelis began their murderous campaign in Lebanon, and that took precedence. So it came as no surprise to me when the airport story hit the papers during last week.
The Evening Herald reported that, on the previous day, 1,000 people were crammed into the immigration waiting area, that the booths were understaffed and that travellers were upset and angry. There was the predictable denial from the Gardai that lack of manpower was the issue. But that won’t wash: there is no doubt that an insufficient number were on duty when I was passing through.
It is a farcically stupid situation. Millions of euros, pounds and dollars are spent annually trying to attract tourists to Ireland from all over the world. The current emphasis is on trying to convince potential visitors that what we deliver is a quality holiday experience. We want then to come here and leave a few thousand euro per head behind them, even on a short stay.
And, having lured them here, how do we greet them? With the kind of cattle-market overcrowding, immediately they hit the airport, that’d shame a country where poverty was endemic. It is a disgrace. And there is no excuse for it.
The times of arrival of the planes are known. There should be no difficulty ensuring that there are enough Immigration Control Officers rostered to deal with the anticipated numbers. There is no reason why all of the booths cannot be occupied all the time – or anytime there is a possibility of a build-up of incoming passengers, at least.
The Garda statement referred to the fact that additional gardai were on duty when the crush reported in the Herald occurred – but that they might have been required to leave their station to deal with a problem that had arisen. Which might be a code for saying that an interrogation was in progress. But the solution is obvious: they need to have two or three additional officers on, so that if one of the gardai on the booths decides that someone needs to be questioned, then there is a replacement ready to take up the slack.
It is a no-brainer. But, under the stewardship of the current Minister for Justice, Michael McDowell, these things just seem to get worse. Is it an organised go-slow, designed to embarrass him? It’s possible. More likely, it is just a case of typical penny-pinching on the part of a State organisation, that results in another layer of deep unpleasantness for Irish citizens and visitors to this country alike to deal with.
The Minister for Health can’t organise the waiting rooms in A&E departments in hospitals, as a result of which people end up queueing for hours just to have a twisted ankle given the once-over. Now the Minister for Justice can’t even resource the Gardai well enough to ensure that you don’t have to suffer heart-attack inducing heat and stress when you arrive back in the airport after a weekend away.
They seem to think it’s OK to treat citizens with contempt. Roll on the General Election...