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A noise-measuring device at Dublin Airport Fingal County Council

15 noise measuring systems installed in areas around Dublin Airport

Noise levels in the residential areas around the airport has been a bone of contention in recent months.

FIFTEEN NOISE MEASURING systems have been installed around Dublin Airport, following controversy over noise levels for local residents.

Fingal County Council said today that the permanent systems are now operational, following a direction by the Aircraft Noise Competent Authority (ANCA) to DAA, the airport authority for Dublin Airport.

There are also two mobile noise monitors which can be rotated through areas without a permanent system.

The results from the measuring systems can be viewed online in real time.

The areas covered include the Coast Road in Portmarnock, the Malahide Demesne, Donabate, St Margaret’s and Swords.

ANCA ordered the DAA to install and maintain 23 permanent noise-measuring systems by 24 August 2024. The rollout was to be phased, with 15 systems to be operational by 24 August 2023.

Earlier this month, Fingal County Council issued an enforcement notice on DAA to reduce the number of night flights at Dublin Airport to a maximum of 65 between 11pm and 7am.

The Planning Authority carried out an investigation into alleged breaches of Condition 5 of the planning permission for the North Runway at Dublin Airport.

When Dublin Airport was granted approval for the new runway in 2007, Condition 5 was put in place to cap the number of flights between 11pm and 7am could not exceed 65.

The DAA and Ryanair have blasted the order, saying it was an unrealistic expectation for the airport’s peak summer season.

Ryanair has said there could be “mass cancellations” at Dublin Airport due to the order.

The notice states that if DAA does not comply within six weeks, or an extended period of six months if it is granted by the council, then it may “enter on the land and take such steps, including the removal, demolition or alteration of any structure, and may recover any expenses reasonably incurred by them in that behalf”.

It states that DAA may also be guilty of an offence if it fails to comply with the notice.

New figures published by DAA show a total of 26,196 complaints about noise from aircraft using Dublin Airport were recorded during 2022 – up 93% on the previous year with almost 13,000 additional reports.

But one person is responsible for nearly 90% of those complaints.

While the figures are skewed by the large number of complaints from that individual, there was still an increase in the overall level of complaints by residents, which has been linked to a combination of an overall increase in aircraft movements following the easing of restrictions around the Covid-19 pandemic and the opening of the new €320 million runway.

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    Mute Louis Jacob
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    Aug 29th 2023, 12:46 PM

    One person is responsible for 90% of complaints. Yep, that is 90% of the over 26,000 complaints…. in a year. It’s not really the planes dear, is it?

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    Aug 29th 2023, 12:53 PM

    @Louis Jacob:
    Yes, one person making more noise than the planes.

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    Aug 29th 2023, 1:03 PM

    And he’s from Ongar… 12.6km from the airport

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    Mute Maria De Souza
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    Aug 29th 2023, 12:58 PM

    Know i know why we are experiencing really loud noise all night and day near swords. Not much lower in terms of decibels of those right next to the airport despite being out of the shaded “flight path”. To the commenters above believe me noise is an issue and those who bought outside of the flight path would never of have know how disruptive this would be to their lives.

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    Aug 29th 2023, 1:06 PM

    @Maria De Souza: You bought a house beside an airport, it’s the same as people who buy beside Croke Park complaning that there’s crowds of people on Sundays!

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    Aug 29th 2023, 1:22 PM

    @Jimmy Wallace:
    Now write that another 25,999 times.

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    Mute Maria De Souza
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    Aug 29th 2023, 1:29 PM

    @croke park is not running noisy crowds 24/7 after all even they get some respite:

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    Aug 29th 2023, 2:04 PM

    @Maria De Souza: That’s probably why they didn’t buy next door to the biggest airport in Ireland!

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    Aug 29th 2023, 2:27 PM

    @Jimmy Wallace:
    25,998

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    Mute another one? what's going on is the semi state sec
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    Aug 29th 2023, 2:27 PM

    @Maria De Souza: The new runway doesn’t operate between 2300 and 0700. So it’s not all night unless the south runway is closed for maintenance which is very rare.

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    Mute uUleRhCu
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    Aug 29th 2023, 2:30 PM

    @: the people complaining near croke park are complaining about excessive concerts…..it’s a sports stadium not a concert hall,and they keep adding more concerts every year.I don’t blame them.

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    Aug 29th 2023, 2:36 PM

    @uUleRhCu: Wrong, it’s a stadium, like every other stadium on the planet that hosts concerts and events like UFC etc.

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    Mute Maria De Souza
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    Aug 29th 2023, 2:45 PM

    Well i hear flights at all times during the night. The limit was to be 65 during the night but as we all know now from revent news it is in the several hundreds. Start at 5am on weekends too@another one? what’s going on is the semi state sec:

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    Mute uUleRhCu
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    Aug 29th 2023, 3:14 PM

    @: no I don’t agree.the grab all association are constantly adding more and more concerts.years gone by it was one maybe a year.they wanted 5 concerts alone for brooks and whatever else they could squeeze in.

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    Mute uUleRhCu
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    Aug 29th 2023, 3:21 PM

    @: I bet you are like everyone in this country nobody is allowed complain about noise/developments or anything else….unless it affects you.then it’s a different story.

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    Aug 29th 2023, 3:24 PM

    @uUleRhCu: Rant much? lol

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    Mute uUleRhCu
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    Aug 29th 2023, 4:59 PM

    @: ironic much.lol.

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    Mute another one? what's going on is the semi state sec
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    Aug 29th 2023, 8:09 PM

    @Maria De Souza: well you decided to live near an airport which has been operating since 1940 and the south runway has been active since 1989 with night flights, what did you expect? Did you do your due diligence when buying/renting? Nothing has changed operationally at the airport for night time flights since before the new runway. The same south runway is used, similar flight numbers (despite the bonkers planning condition that has no relevance to the new runway)……. Between 2300 and 0700 it’s not several hundred. It’s not even 150 when it’s busy. I counted about 130 on Friday night/sat morning between that time. Of course they start at weekends at the same time. It’s an international airport.

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    Aug 29th 2023, 8:35 PM

    @uUleRhCu: I wote 1 reply and then another reply to your rant, you on the otherhand… Maths much?

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    Mute Maria De Souza
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    Aug 30th 2023, 1:42 PM

    @another one? what’s going on is the semi state sec: 302 flights between last night 11pm to 7am this morning according to webtrak link- but does not operate according to you during 2300 to 0700. That statement is false. Check the data. And the planning permission caps them at 65 during the night time. Which is why you will find people are having a hard time with noise, compared to before.

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    Mute Maria De Souza
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    Aug 30th 2023, 1:42 PM

    @another one? what’s going on is the semi state sec: 302 flights between last night 11pm to 7am this morning – but does not operate according to you during 2300 to 0700. That statement is false. Check the data. And the planning permission caps them at 65 during the night time. Which is why you will find people are having a hard time with noise, compared to befor

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    Mute Maria De Souza
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    Aug 30th 2023, 1:47 PM

    @another one? what’s going on is the semi state sec: Yes, we did, like many others. As another person kindly mentioned, many areas were considered out of the flight path and therefore were not supposed to be subjected to signifigant noise. The DAA noise contours map shows many areas outside of the catchment, and also not eligible for noise treatment as a result, yet if you look at the webtrak and noise monitoring data, swords (many areas not within catchment) are experiencing noise almost as noisy as St. Margarets. So, all in all, it is the DAA that are being unreasonable here. Also, your counting may need review. 302 flights left last night during those hours , according to the webtrak data. Which is almost 5 times higher than the permitted 65 under the planning condition, which is why people are suffering.

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    Aug 30th 2023, 5:46 PM

    @Maria De Souza: firstly, that data you quoted isn’t correct. Eurocontrol, the main ATC body in Europe, has Dublin airport at around 750 flights a day approx. 302 of them as you say, or 40%, weren’t between 2300 and 0700. That’s a fact. You can count them yourself on flight radar. Secondly, As for the change to flight paths off the north runway, it’s an irrelevant point because the north runway isn’t used between 2300 and 0700. So your argument about night time flight and being considered “out of the flight paths” doesn’t make sense because it’s the same flight path from the south runway that has been there for ages. Swords is close to an airport, expect aircraft noise. Your fault for moving there.

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    Mute john dennehy
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    Aug 29th 2023, 1:35 PM

    The DAA should obey the laws and the planning conditions they agreed to and the planning authority should be able to enforce their planning laws if the DAA breaks them. If the DAA sticks to what they agreed to there should be no problem, but it looks like the DAA a Semi-State company just like RTE believes and acts like they are above the law.

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    Mute Maria De Souza
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    Aug 29th 2023, 1:03 PM

    Some people have stopped even bothering making complaints as they feel not listened to . The latest court ruling to try and overturn a previously agreed legal planning condition has not given much confidence in the law. Most people are reasonable and understand the economy and flights need to run but running night flights (several hundreds) is disastrous for peoples mental health,sleep and overall health. I think we need to be less judgmental and harsh to those experiencing it. I’ve woken up at 12 to 1.30 am the last few weeks and been awake for a long period due to very noisy nightlights.

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    Mute Louis Jacob
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    Aug 29th 2023, 1:10 PM

    @Maria De Souza: I actually agree with you; but that person making 24,000 complaints a year doesn’t really do you guys any favours. Makes you all seem a bit cray cray.

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    Mute Maria De Souza
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    Aug 29th 2023, 1:16 PM

    @Louis Jacob: totally..but I also think that perhaps the man is developing mental issues or has as a result of this noise irritation. It might have been pre-existing but I’m sure it has not helped hence the manic complaints :)

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    Aug 29th 2023, 1:26 PM

    @Maria De Souza:
    Do not think of some poor individual bent over his laptop cowering every time a plane flies over, this is an automated email device designed to annoy as much as possible with no more input than typing the initial mail.

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    Aug 29th 2023, 12:58 PM

    If like An Board Planala, they asked for a processing fee for every submission ,this would silence this nuisance objector.
    Wasting everybody’s time and money.

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    Mute Jason Ebbs
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    Aug 29th 2023, 1:05 PM

    @: you don’t think the DAA should have to adhere to planning conditions. If you applied for planning permission and once it was granted you changed it do you think you’d be able to keep it ?

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    Mute Eileen Kelly
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    Aug 29th 2023, 1:28 PM

    Why was planning permission granted to build houses under flight paths just as planning permission was granted to build houses on flood plains and of course what was to be expected happened, is there anyone with a brain working in planning.

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    Aug 29th 2023, 1:50 PM

    @Eileen Kelly: Or anyone with a brain buying these houses?

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    Mute john dennehy
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    Aug 29th 2023, 2:52 PM

    @Eileen Kelly: The DAA changed the agreed flight paths on the day the new runway opened due to a major oversight on their part. I think that’s the problem, it would be hard for any planning department to issue planning permissions for people’s homes knowing the DAA a Semi-state company would not follow what was agreed in their planning permission. Pretty sure a lot of people affected would not have gotten planning permission from the planning authority or chose to live in an area if the true flight paths were known. People were assured by the DAA, and Fingal County Council that they were not on a flight path and now they find they are, you can’t really blame them for feeling annoyed with the DAA and Fingal County Council.

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    Mute Tom tom
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    Aug 29th 2023, 4:08 PM

    Dublin Airport the main airport in the Ireland. It was always going to be developed whether you bought your house 80 years ago or two years ago. What do people expect. Airplanes make noise, and they will continue to make noise. Little sympathy.

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    Mute F Fitzgerald
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    Aug 29th 2023, 6:38 PM

    No, in fairness DAA are breaking the law and have changed their operations recently. They could stump up for noise cancelling headphones or buy up the houses. They can’t do nothing – a group of sleep deprived people are not settling for twice the racket, and 2hy should they?

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