We need your help now
Support from readers like you keeps The Journal open.
You are visiting us because we have something you value. Independent, unbiased news that tells the truth. Advertising revenue goes some way to support our mission, but this year it has not been enough.
If you've seen value in our reporting, please contribute what you can, so we can continue to produce accurate and meaningful journalism. For everyone who needs it.
Sign in. It’s quick, free and it’s up to you.
An account is an optional way to support the work we do. Find out more.
By continuing, you are indicating that you accept our Terms of Service and Privacy Policy.
THE COMMISSION OF Aviation Regulation (CAR) said the first they heard of Ryanair’s flight cancellations was on social media and news reports.
Representatives from the regulator and the Irish Air Line Pilots Association are in front of the Oireachtas Transport Committee today to discuss the fallout and impact on customers of the mass cancellations of flights in recent weeks by the budget airline.
Ryanair’s CEO Michael O’Leary was also invited, but declined to attend today’s hearing. ”It is an insult they haven’t come,” Solidarity-PBP’s Mick Barry told the committee.
The airline cancelled 2,100 flights between September and October and a further 18,000 between November and March, as a result of what it said is a rostering issue.
Yesterday, members of the European Parliament tore into Ryanair, criticising it on numerous fronts for its treatment of its workers and passengers.
Heard about cancellations through social media
Cathy Mannion, Commissioner of the CAR, said when the first wave of cancellations occurred, it was not informed. She told the committee that the commission were only made aware of the news “through observing social media and news reports”.
She said it was clear Ryanair “took their eye of the ball when it came to passengers’ rights” and were too concerned with dealing with their own internal difficulties.
Mannion said the commission had to seek out engagement with the company, however, when information was sought, it was given.
She said when Ryanair began cancelling flights, the passenger was the regulator’s primary concern.
Mannion said the airline “made limited reference” to passengers’ rights, which is why they regulator said it told Ryanair they needed to comply with regulations and inform customers as a matter of urgency about their compensation rights.
She criticised the airline for not issuing a list of flights cancelled in a timely fashion and for also sending out misinformation in one email, which included a list of flights that were not impacted.
The commissioner said they were not informed or shown the information the airline was sending out to customers in advance, adding that it was not presented in a clear manner that customers could understand.
Bookings on rival airlines
Mannion also queried why the airline took so long to tell customers that they would be booked on to rival airlines.
“We knew they had partnerships in the background with other airlines… for the life of me I couldn’t understand it,” she said, adding Ryanair has several partnership deals with airlines such as EasyJet and Aer Lingus.
She said if a similar incident were to happen again, she would do everything the same again.
Sinn Féin’s Imelda Munster said that was not something customers wanted to hear, stating that clearly the airline did not take the regulator seriously. Mannion said if Ryanair or any airline can foresee that an event of this kind is going to occur, it would be ideal for it to inform the regulator in advance.
Instead, she said it was the case that the regulator “had to chase” the airline in terms of how it was going to look after its customers.
“Surely to God there is regulations in place that an airline must seek advice in advance,” said Fianna Fáil’s Robert Troy.
However, he was informed there is no obligation for the airline to inform the regulator about the cancellation of flights.
Planned disruption
“This wasn’t unplanned – this was planned – how long in advance did they know about this?” he asked.
Captain James Courtney of the Irish Airline Association said the issue of the roster changes that were required under EU regulation was communicated with both Ryanair and Aer Lingus.
Courtney said due to Ryanair being a larger airline, it worked with the airline to ensure that it was making the necessary changes. He said the airline was given a deadline of over a year to implement the roster overhaul.
“We have done numerous audits and there was no indication there was a problem with missing the target,” he said. He added that airline did not ask for any derogation of the target and have not asked for an extension to it.
He added that how the airline planned to meet the target would be a “commercial decision” for the airline.
Solidarity-PBP Mick Barry said he was disappointed in the contributions given to the committee today. He said the airline industry is operating under “light touch regulation” which do not hold airlines to account.
Mannion said the commission will hold Ryanair ”fully to account” to ensure they deal with their customer claims and the rights of the passenger appropriately.
Maurice O’Connor of the Irish Aviation Authority said Ryanair is fully compliant with all safety regulations and said he has not received any reports about pilots turning up to work fatigued.
To embed this post, copy the code below on your site
Out loud on my phone on the bus. Or I’ve a little Bluetooth speaker clip on to my backpack. People love hearing my tunes as I walk down the street.
@Sanjeet Chopra: Define ‘electroslop’, Mr Doe. UR003 remains sacred.
@Sanjeet Chopra: Minimalism, looping and repetition are utilised in so many areas of music from ancient religious music and chanting to contemporary music. Of course, not every instance works or produces powerful worthwhile music, but the idea that all music must follow a similar structure is pretty restrictive. It also
misses the point or aim of the music and musicians who employ these techniques.
Sometimes you want to dive into something that mutates and evolves slowly, locks you into a certain space, feeling or mindset. It can be meditative and transporting. It can be really good for the head to focus, notice the tiny details and get lost in recurring sounds. I love forensically composed music and tracks with more traditional verse chorus bridge structure too. These don’t always hit the spot though and it dismisses the different effects that well crafted ‘repetitive’ music produce.
With my ears
John Creedon, & Cathal Murray.
RTE Radio 1
@RIP: Was going to comment on John Creedon. Has introduced me to musicians I’ve never heard of and giving me a broader taste in genres too. Don’t know Cathal Murray so must give him a go.
@RIP: Eclectic mix there.
@Longlin: Late Date
@RIP: LyricFM mostly good, but not enough dedicated time to classical music.
Mystery Train great for exploring different music.
They need to get rid of that Marty in the Morning though. There’s plenty of what he’s playing on other stations. We need classical at that time of day, not nonsense small talk and music from 1950s.
@Longlin: Creedon is a clown, like Joe duffy but thankfully less determined to lecture his listeners
bring back PHANTOM FM
@brian pope: if there’s plenty of what Marty plays on other stations at that time then listen to those and let people who enjoy Marty continue to listen to him.
Live
In the car.
@Stanley Marsh: we finally have a selection of stations to listen to in the car covering lots of different genres on DAB+ ,my favourites would be 8 Radio,onic alternative and eirewave, but there is probably apart from classical music some station to suit most people .
@Stanley Marsh: Not to mention android auto so you can listen to literally any station on the globe.
YouTube
@Ben F: I pay for YouTube premium. Well worth the subscription as I don’t watch terrestrial tv. So many brilliant full length travel programmes,interesting documentaries,complete live concerts etc. The best thing is the algorithms learn what kind of music you might like. ‘Recommend for you’ Wow! I have discovered so many new artists that are absolutely brilliant that I never heard of before
@Larry Betts: also because youtube aka google, has been getting away with excessive and intrusive advertising thats becoming insufferable
my neighbours love my new sound system so much the threw rocks through the window so they could hear it better
@John Duggan: My neighbours are great. Whenever I’m playing my favourite music really loud very late through the night,they always bang on the wall. Hey! Do you know it’s 3 o’clock in the morning???!!! No,I didn’t! Thanks a lot,I yell back.
With files downloaded to my phone. How can mp3 not be an option!?
@Tricia G28: I buy CD’s and put them onto my MP3, if I can’t find the CD then I’ll download it, while paying for it of course.
I like live bonfire sound art. Preferably with some flutes panned to the right. I upload the crackling sounds of burning effigies to Soundcloud with pretentious titles that try to suggest I’ve discovered some deep universal truth, but they just sound like crap phone recordings if I’m brutally honest!
LIVE MUSIC IN CONCERT OR PUB WITH BEER!!!
Bit of vinyl, bit of YouTube, but mainly Apple Music where I have bought a huge number of albums over the last 10 years or so. I’d love to flick through that record collection in the photo – Howlin’ Wolf at the front, so the owner seems to have great taste, much like myself
@Kev Kerr: Or Captain Beefheart who purposely got colds to sound like him ha ha
Radio, someone still loves you!
My favourite way is vinyl but radio and streaming for handiness.
Who uses CDs and cassettes in this day and age? Expensive, bulky, brittle and very little functionality. Do these people also still use VHS cassettes and DVDs??
@Kevin Collins: People like me who have an extensive collection of all 4.
Do you expect us to pile them up and burn them?
@Kevin Collins:
I do, unlike streaming I don’t need WiFi or internet connection to listen to it.
@Stanley Marsh: Exactly,I have a large collection of vinyl and cds,with some cassettes,and I use digital files stored on my computer.I love them all.
@Thomas O’Brien: I use MP3s for this very reason, particularly while travelling. But don’t have to lug around hardware or a stack of flimsy plastic discs.
@Kevin Collins: There’s a lot of people who never got accustomed to streaming, have major issues with the way the companies treat artists, love a physical item, and know that the best way to support vast swathes of the people who release music, is to buy their album on whatever format.
There are a lot of labels and artists pulling their work from streaming services too. Some of the financing and ethics of the huge corporations are incredibly dodgy. Cassettes tend to be a feature for specific types of music that lean underground and lo-fi, although I admit they seem to be manufactured for a lot of albums these days. I’m not sure if many of them are listened to outside of underground and independent circles though. CDs are an affordable option (in comparison to the skyrocketing costs of records) that give you a physical copy, the chance to properly support the artist and handily can also be ripped at a high quality for digital listening!
@Stanley Marsh: I also have a pile of CDs gathering dust on a shelf. I digitised the contents of them years ago. Do you still buy new ones?? Nostalgia aside, there are literally no benefits to physical format music (with the obvious exception of vinyl).
@SerotoninWars: Platforms can remove content from their library, but not from your shelves.
@Kevin Collins: I have more cassettes than any other media. Have several cassette machines too. At 15 quid a pop for a branded new blank, I don’t buy many new ones.
@Kevin Collins:
I don’t have to lug around anything.
I converted some of my music to digital and I can listen to it on my phone.
No going on line and paying a subscription, I own it and can listen anytime.
@Kevin Collins: cassettes worth a fortune these days. very collectible.
@Kevin Collins: Cd and vinyl aren’t bulky, a suitcase is bulky. CdD’s not cassettes are not brittle. Enjoy streaming sub par quality on Spotify.
@ben wu: Absolutely. It’s far too late for me to adapt to streaming as my main way of listening to music. Of course, I’ll check stuff out on YouTube and preview music, but if I really want or love an album, it’s getting purchased.
@SerotoninWars: For most of my genres, there’s honestly not a lot of new music that I’d be buying, so while I’ve somewhere near 3000 cd’s, they are almost all ripped to flac.
It’s really only the Electronica/Techno stuff that I still buy, but it’s only from a few places that allow download for local play.
@ben wu: I’m still finding plenty of new stuff I want to grab, but I get that there’s a critical mass stage where you become more selective when you have lots of stuff in various genres already. I’m super selective with electronica and techno now as I’ve tonnes of the stuff already. Often find that no matter what cutting edge tools are used it just sounds like 90s music, but sharper and brighter. There’s definitely great stuff being released still, if you dig, but man alive there’s so much filler to wade through!
@SerotoninWars: Well yeah, but frankly, there’s not a whole lot in the Rap/Metal/Classical/Reggae genres that interest me too much, and I have the vast majority of what would listen / re-listen to.
Electronica, and particularly Techno, is the only types that I still regularly buy, but my tastes lean to stuff like minimalist or acid, so it’s often more about supporting labels
@Kevin Collins: I can get most albums on CD , second hand for between €2 and €5 on adverts.ie, Vinted , Discogs, Amazon, EBay or in charity shops. I upload them to my pc and then download them to my phone and play them on the pc or via Bluetooth anywhere. That’s less than half of what I’d pay to buy it from a streaming service. Plus I have all the info on the sleeve notes. I had a bunch of albums on a pc before that I had downloaded from streaming services. The pc got damaged and I lost everything. That’s the main reason I still buy CDs. I might have to wait a bit to find a second hand copy of a cd but most of the music I listen to is more than a few years old anyway. I have all of my CDs stored in bookcases in my living room. I think a large physical music collection looks great too.
Live at the NCH .
Live!…….
Mini disc
Has to be John Creedon Rte radio 1. A truly eclectic mix.
With beer and good speakers.
Live sessions.
Favourite way is vinyl, but streaming is my most used way.
With my ears…..
@Harry Callahan: ear drum ‘n’ bass?
Streaming with headphones in for the best sound without disturbing anyone around me. Unfortunately some neighbours think different
@no no no: no no,no no no no,there’s no limit
A mixture of live performances, C.Ds, and specially selected music radio stations.
Come home from the pub, and YouTube on full blast until all hours. Neighbours love me :)
I like to listen through my Ears.
love to play de tunes on the bus and vape too XX luff it, Ireland is such a soft touch and i luff laughing at the aul ones who get grumpy
YouTube, Spotify, sometimes whatever is on my playlist on my iPod if I have updated it. Otherwise, I plug my phone into my car and play Spotify through Android Auto. I do have CDs but newer cars these days seemed to have foregone the CD readers, which my current car has done. I have 6 CD albums and that slightly upset me.
Alexa is what I listen to at night.
@kirbs91@hotmail.com: Myself and Alexa have fallen out. “Alexa. Why am I so bad at relationships?” “This is Siri”
have your say