@HONEY BADGER180: stupid people? And you can afford 55million.?

@Tommy Roche: No mayday call. Wasn’t an emergency landing. Don’t be silly. Non story.

@M: did you read the article?

@Paul Maguire: think he meant M .

@M: When you read the article you were not interested in, you must have missed this bit. “The crew confirmed they had suffered an engine failure and declared a May-Day emergency”.

@M: uppet.

@Paul Maguire: being able to afford a €55MM jet doesn’t make you smart.
Just look at Trump.
Rich as hell. (ALLEGEDLY)
Dumb as a stump.

@michael dunworth: that missed the point – he chooses to divert his earnings away from Ireland, which would otherwise go towards public services. Employing people (to get a tax break for his gambling business) or throwing money to a charity event doesn’t cut it. He is benefiting from the state while deciding to avoid taxes here.

@James Wallace: it also should be noted that he is a major charitable donor to causes all over this country, not to mention huge donations to sporting and cultural organisations.

@Renton Burke: So What? Most people would do the same given the opportunity. But I’m sure you wouldn’t lol

@John: so what?

@James Wallace: of course they’ll send a bill. You can’t use the services of an airport for free.

@James Wallace: he’ll pay for the use of the airport etc

@James Wallace: A bill for what exactly ? Those emergency crews were on duty and getting paid anyway, regardless of whether they were at the airport or sitting in the station drinking tea. There was no extra cost to the local authorities beyond the cost of fuel used to get to the airport. The costs of having emergency services at the major airports is built into landing fee’s paid the owners of all aircraft using the facility. It cost the taxpayer virtually nothing.

@Tommy Roche: I didn’t say there was an extra cost but he used the taxpayer funded facilities in a country where he refuses to pay tax.

@John: do public services get paid for by tiny charitable donations to friends or taxes? The fact is he’s a de facto Irishman with the majority of his interests here, and he chooses to avoid tax. Doesn’t matter if it’s barely legal, and he plays it by having the jet fly out at midnight – for all their castigation, Michael O’Leary, Bono and most readers here, pay their taxes. Throwing unaccountable crumbs at charities doesn’t cut it – he’s robbing the state.

@Renton Burke: They claim tax relief on the charitable donations, and some charities are only in existence for this purpose,

@James Wallace: JP and his family invest more every year in Ireland than you’ll ever pay in tax in your lifetime. His charitable donating is massive. If you had a fraction of the earning power he has, you’d be resident in Bermuda.

JP is a Limerick legend and is beloved there.

@James Wallace: that’s ridiculous, so if I am on a plane with 300 passengers in America and it has to make an emergency landing, there will be a shake down for money? C’mon now.

@Shane Hickey: Bono gets hammered on here regularly about his tax affairs yet he pays his personal taxes here. JP is a bigger tax avoider than Bono and he’s a hero. I dont get it. Maybe Bono should throw a few bob at the GAA, it seems to keep the plebs like yourself happy. JP swore an affidavit to say he was resident in Ireland when he was trying to claim back taxes from the USA but the courts over there saw through him, it’s a pity a few more here dont. He’s abusing the system, simple as.

@James Wallace: bollix. O Leary and Flatley pay their full taxes here and hats of to them

@James Wallace: ah he does pay taxes in Ireland. All of the companies he had here pay corporation tax, income tax etc etc

@James Wallace: He has done more in terms of raising money for charity and good causes than most Irish people. Look at the pro am event alone. In 2005 it raised 31 million for charity in 2010 it was 43.7 mill. Who knows what it will make in 2020 and the local charities that will benefit. Let’s be honest here the money is far better off in his hands and control and doing some good rather than disappearing down a black hole paying off interest payments on the national broadband plan. He will ensure it goes direct to the good cause and there is something tangible at the end of it.

@James Wallace: respectful timing. Real gent you are.

@Charles McGuire: my understanding is Trump’s gabbing that very issue looked into… Shakedown, I mean, airport fees, being increased for foreigners who can’t speak Trump-style 5th grade level English that sounds like they’ve giving a book report on a book they’ve not read…

@Mick paisley: any emergency should still be put to the nearest airport,journal states it was over the Irish sea

@Mick paisley: Waterford airport is shut down. Considering it would have taken less than half an hour to get to Waterford, I doubt there would have been enough time to get the necessary staff to Waterford Airport to make an emergency landing.

On top of that, Waterford Hospital wouldn’t have been able to take it if the landing went wrong. Ambulances and fire brigade were waiting in Shannon just in case. Had anything gone wrong in Waterford, ambulances would have to drive to Cork which is pretty far away.

@Declan Edward: over Clare when the journals states it was over the Irish sea,all emergencies no matter the size should go to the nearest airport,reckless

@Damian Kelly: it’s not as simple as “the nearest airport” there are designated emergency airports. These have emergency staff on duty 24hrs a day 365days a year and have the be certified. Shannon is the only 24/7 365 emergency airport with Dublin open 364 days.

You have to consider the personal, equipment and emergency planning as well. Distances are different when flying too, planes can’t just drop out of the sky at a minutes notice, as another commenter said they were circling Clare which suggests a fuel dump was occurring to allow a safer landing. Also air traffic plays a role, Dublin is much busier than Shannon.

At a guess I’d say the experts have this all covered.

@Ali Cummins: Waterford airport is still opened and its only on the weekends you can’t have a heart attack in the South East then you need to transfer to Cork.

@Declan Edward: exactly.

@Paul: I suppose we can’t really take the journal at face value,couldn’t have been a serious emergency if they could get back over and then fuel dump,I’m sure if it was an all out emergency they would have had no choice but to head to a nearer airport

@Paul Delaney: Has it reopened? I moved out of Waterford two years ago and it was shut down then. (I lived about 5 mins away from the airport).

@Ali Cummins: its opened as in the rescue chopper and privately owned jets and planes.

@Damian Kelly: im pretty sure engine failure would be classified as a serious emergency. There are standard procedures for these events including factoring in the risk of landing at the closest airport versus landing at the appropriate airport that has the necessary emergency response such as shannon and dublin. Also landing on 1 engine with a full fuel load would be more reckless than travelling west and dumping the excess fuel to shed the weight prior to landing. I’d say we best leave it to the professionals since they routinely perform drills for these situations. Cool calm collected is the name of the game. They seem to have checked all these boxes.