Garda strike and airports

stephenjmcd

Hi all,
With the upcoming Garda strike looking set to go ahead what do you think the impact will be on the airports ? Surely they'd have contingency plans in place. I'm due to fly to London on the 6.30am flight on the 11th

eagerv

Was also wondering about same.

Am taking long haul on the 4/11 from Terminal 2.

Mebuntu

From what I have heard and, assuming the Airport Police are not involved in the strike, you shouldn't be affected for outgoing.
For Immigration, Civilians operate T1 and Garda T2. It remains to be seen how the daa will handle that.

stephenjmcd

Mebuntu wrote: »

From what I have heard and, assuming the Airport Police are not involved in the strike, you shouldn't be affected for outgoing.
For Immigration, Civilians operate T1 and Garda T2. It remains to be seen how the daa will handle that.

Airport police are separate and will be working. I'm assuming that as the strike starts at 7am and my flight is 6.30am I should be fine.

Thought I saw the daa said immigration was the department of justices responsibility. Guess we'll see come next week's strike what happens

Pat Dunne

stephenjmcd wrote: »

Airport police are separate and will be working. I'm assuming that as the strike starts at 7am and my flight is 6.30am I should be fine.

Thought I saw the daa said immigration was the department of justices responsibility. Guess we'll see come next week's strike what happens

The Gardai are no longer involved in passport & visa checks, this service is now completely civilised and handled by civil servants.

roadmaster

Pat Dunne wrote: »

The Gardai are no longer involved in passport & visa checks, this service is now completely civilised and handled by civil servants.

Nope they are still in T2 as of last nite anyway as I flew in and it was Garda that checked the passport

JCX BXC

Pat Dunne wrote: »

The Gardai are no longer involved in passport & visa checks, this service is now completely civilised and handled by civil servants.

Is that not basically what immigration is? All the sources I have read cite this only occurring in T1 in Dublin, with T2 and all other Irish airports being handled by Gardaí

Avada

Pat Dunne wrote: »

The Gardai are no longer involved in passport & visa checks, this service is now completely civilised and handled by civil servants.

Civillians are only in T1, still GNIB in T2

billie1b

Pat Dunne wrote: »

The Gardai are no longer involved in passport & visa checks, this service is now completely civilised and handled by civil servants.

Civilians only man the check points in T1, if they have someone with a dodgy passport or visa problems etc, the GNIB are still called.
In T2 the GNIB still man everything

Cessna_Pilot

I think people are missing the big picture here a little bit.

It's all well and good saying that Immigration is the only thing that could be affected by the strike, however if God forbid, a terrorist attack or similar was to occur at DUB for example, many Gardai would be required.

The government/authorities can not run this risk. I predict airports will be shut if the strike goes ahead and I would expect an announcement fairly early in the week too.

stephenjmcd

Well we've a strike next Friday so we'll soon see. They have said there is going to be cover if God forbid something like that did happen.

Can't see them essentially closing the county

Bazzy

They've been offered a package apparently

I can see this being sorted very quickly

According to independent.ie they need to get the contingency plan rolling by tuesday if the strike is going ahead

I could see the thinking behind closing the airport in case of the unthinkable

I could be wrong but I dont think the legislation allows the army to carry out the required tasks

It's a messy one

Jamie2k9

Cessna_Pilot wrote: »

I think people are missing the big picture here a little bit.

It's all well and good saying that Immigration is the only thing that could be affected by the strike, however if God forbid, a terrorist attack or similar was to occur at DUB for example, many Gardai would be required.

The government/authorities can not run this risk. I predict airports will be shut if the strike goes ahead and I would expect an announcement fairly early in the week too.

If such an attack happened they would immediately return to work. Not that they would be much use in such an attack.

No departures will be impacted and I could be wrong but T1 is mixed control and as said above T2 is just guards.

Pat Dunne

Cessna_Pilot wrote: »

I think people are missing the big picture here a little bit.

It's all well and good saying that Immigration is the only thing that could be affected by the strike, however if God forbid, a terrorist attack or similar was to occur at DUB for example, many Gardai would be required.

The government/authorities can not run this risk. I predict airports will be shut if the strike goes ahead and I would expect an announcement fairly early in the week too.

There're contingency plans in place to deal with such matters, that are not subject to GRA or AGSI labour disputes.

JCX BXC

Pat Dunne wrote: »

There're contingency plans in place to deal with such matters, that are not subject to GRA or AGSI labour disputes.

What are these?

Edups

If the need man power wouldn't they just call in the army?

newacc2015

Cessna_Pilot wrote: »

I think people are missing the big picture here a little bit.

It's all well and good saying that Immigration is the only thing that could be affected by the strike, however if God forbid, a terrorist attack or similar was to occur at DUB for example, many Gardai would be required.

The government/authorities can not run this risk. I predict airports will be shut if the strike goes ahead and I would expect an announcement fairly early in the week too.

What good is dispatching all the Gardai in Dublin, if only a very tiny amount are actually able to handle a gun? Most Gardai I imagine have minimal training in handling a terrorist attack

Cessna_Pilot

Thats not the point.

Pat Dunne

roadmaster wrote: »

Nope they are still in T2 as of last nite anyway as I flew in and it was Garda that checked the passport

Cheers on that one, as I haven't been through T2 in several years. Usually fly out of T1.

Pat Dunne

Carnacalla wrote: »

What are these?

I'm afraid that I will have to disappoint you by not revealing how the State will respond in detail to such threats. However the Gardai as first response and the Defence Forces, if called upon to provide aid to the Civil Power, have specialist units to confront such circumstances.

Negative_G

Pat Dunne wrote: »

I'm afraid that I will have to disappoint you by not revealing how the State will respond in detail to such threats. However the Gardai as first response and the Defence Forces, if called upon to provide aid to the Civil Power, have specialist units to confront such circumstances.

In the event of a such an incident, the Garda Emergency Response Unit (ERU) would assume command and control initially. In the event that they were unable to deal with the situation then the Army Ranger Wing would be requested.

It has been publicly reported that the ERU would not be affected by the pending strike action.

Hardly a big secret.

Pat Dunne

Negative_G wrote: »

In the event of a such an incident, the Garda Emergency Response Unit (ERU) would assume command and control initially. In the event that they were unable to deal with the situation then the Army Ranger Wing would be requested.

It has been publicly reported that the ERU would not be affected by the pending strike action.

Hardly a big secret.

I do apologise that the little bit of whimsy and irony contained within my response was lost on you.

Negative_G

Pat Dunne wrote: »

The ARW would provide "aid to the Civil Power", as you say everone knows that.

Yes, that would be the politically correct way of putting it.

Very simply, if the ARW were requested it would mean that the ERU could not effectively deal with the situation. The ARW would not be coming along to assist, they would become the primary response force regardless of how it may be dressed up.

The ERU are undoubtedly highly trained and skilled but the ARW by their very nature are a very different animal with a far wider skill set to deal with a multitude of terrorist threats.

Negative_G

Pat Dunne wrote: »

Im afraid the little bit of whimsy and irony contained within my response was lost on you.

The definition of irony varies greatly it would seem.

Nice edit though!

Pat Dunne

Negative_G wrote: »

The definition of irony varies greatly it would seem.

Nice edit though!

Sure isn't it only nice to be nice.

The King of Dalriada

Edups wrote: »

If the need man power wouldn't they just call in the army?

And what does Private Seamus from Ballygobackward know about immigration protocol?

Edups

The King of Dalriada wrote: »

And what does Private Seamus from Ballygobackward know about immigration protocol?

I was talking about if Garda were required at the airport for terrorist threats

stephenjmcd

Talks break down. I guess we have to wait and see now if the airports even open Friday. Surely you can get 2 senior GNIB officers to man passport control. All they ever do is just wave you on

Shannon Control

I'm not sure, but you would think that legally, the airport cannot operate without a force readily available i.e the Gardai? It's just like the fire services, the airfield is closed when an accident happens because if there was another accident, there would be no response unit to the aircraft in distress.

veetwin

stephenjmcd wrote: »

Talks break down. I guess we have to wait and see now if the airports even open Friday. Surely you can get 2 senior GNIB officers to man passport control. All they ever do is just wave you on

Yes that's a good plan. I'm sure 2 senior officers will have no problem controlling immigration on T2 for 24 hours:rolleyes:

goingnowhere

stephenjmcd wrote: »

Hi all,
With the upcoming Garda strike looking set to go ahead what do you think the impact will be on the airports ? Surely they'd have contingency plans in place. I'm due to fly to London on the 6.30am flight on the 11th

Shannon Control wrote: »

I'm not sure, but you would think that legally, the airport cannot operate without a force readily available i.e the Gardai? It's just like the fire services, the airfield is closed when an accident happens because if there was another accident, there would be no response unit to the aircraft in distress.

Airport police are NOT on strike, its purely an immigration control issue

No problem with departures, none at all. In theory flights arriving from the CTA could be handled without issue as controls are not needed

Impacts is any flight arriving T2, so all TATL except Ethophian & Air Canada, all Aer Lingus and all Gulf flights

One solution is to get the third secretaries of a few EU embassies on a flight tonight and man the booths, after all they issue the entry visas

maximum12

Can the civvies in T1 who are not currently rostered for Friday be offered extra shifts to cover T2.

Pat Dunne

maximum12 wrote: »

Can the civvies in T1 who are not currently rostered for Friday be offered extra shifts to cover T2.

Excuse me please, they are Civil Servants!

As I'm taking about things Civil Service, it has struck me as a bit strange, at least to my mind, that they are checking passports in T1 for a considerable time now and that through this topic I have learned they are not yet operational in T2.

But there again why am I surprised as it more than likely down to a good old bit good internal wrangling and the usual Civil Service turf wars between the various Assistant Secretaries, Staff, Unions, Secretary General and the Minister!

stephenjmcd

I can see there being delays on flights coming in, but im away at 6:30am on the friday morning and its only London so hopefully no issues

veetwin

stephenjmcd wrote: »

I can see there being delays on flights coming in, but im away at 6:30am on the friday morning and its only London so hopefully no issues

I doubt any DUB based plane will be allowed to depart on Friday unless they are sure they can return. EI wont want their fleet and crew stuck abroad for 24 hours.

LXFlyer

Pat Dunne wrote: »

Excuse me please, they are Civil Servants!

As I'm taking about things Civil Service, it has struck me as a bit strange, at least to my mind, that they are operational in T1 for a considerable time now and not yet in T2. But there again why am I surprised as it more than likely down to a good old bit good internal wrangling and the usual Civil Service turf wars between the various Assistant Secretaries, Staff, Unions, Secretary General and the Minister!

The target date for T2 was always the end of this year.

stephenjmcd

veetwin wrote: »

I doubt any DUB based plane will be allowed to depart on Friday unless they are sure they can return. EI wont want their fleet and crew stuck abroad for 24 hours.

The actual issue would only affect certain routes. those between Ireland and the UK shouldn't really be affected due to common travel. There wont be an issue with the airport and the airlines returning or departing, it'd be when you get off the plan and hit immigration

stephenjmcd

I see EI tweeting people saying they've made no changes and plan to operate a full service

Pat Dunne

lxflyer wrote: »

The target date for T2 was always the end of this year.

So its going to happen in the next 6/7 weeks, just in time for the Christmas rush?

Well at least that leaves a bit more time for some "Sir Humphrey" style, obfuscation and procrastination!

stephenjmcd

According to media, garda commissioner invoking directive ordering all leave to be cancelled, they must turn up to work Friday. Apparently if its issued they will follow it

Bussywussy

that's gonna make her very popular This will finish her career

Pat Dunne

Bussywussy wrote: »

that's gonna make her very popular This will finish her career

Think of the pension, just think of the pension.

stephenjmcd

According to the Irish times:

Passport controls will remain open. “Civilian staff already working on things like passport checks at immigration with even very small numbers of [Garda] members will keep those key places open,” the same source said.

goingnowhere

Came through T2 at about 2200 tonight, lots more people floating around the immigration booths, only the usual 3 cabins staffed, but at least enough staff to staff double that.

Someone learning the ropes?

stephenjmcd

goingnowhere wrote: »

Came through T2 at about 2200 tonight, lots more people floating around the immigration booths, only the usual 3 cabins staffed, but at least enough staff to staff double that.

Someone learning the ropes?

Sounds like it. Did they look like they were learning the ropes of T2 or what were they at ?
Could be the civilian staff from t1 and maybe they've agreed to man t2

Donal55

stephenjmcd wrote: »

According to media, garda commissioner invoking directive ordering all leave to be cancelled, they must turn up to work Friday. Apparently if its issued they will follow it

Game on!

roundymac

Just don't be in a hurry and as for a connecting flight,,, forget it.

goingnowhere

stephenjmcd wrote: »

Sounds like it. Did they look like they were learning the ropes of T2 or what were they at ?
Could be the civilian staff from t1 and maybe they've agreed to man t2

Actually got checked by a garda wearing a garda issued navy jumper, its normally guys in suits. Main interest seemed to be down at the non EU desk

Didn't look like the T1 folks and there horrible uniform

veetwin

roundymac wrote: »

Just don't be in a hurry and as for a connecting flight,,, forget it.

Why? The flight connections immigration checks are controlled by INIS staff not Gardai

dashoonage

So im flying out to NYC on the 11th....i gather the issue wont be with me getting out but that the flight from newark may not come in so ill have no flight out ?? should i be worried?

stephenjmcd

goingnowhere wrote: »

Actually got checked by a garda wearing a garda issued navy jumper, its normally guys in suits. Main interest seemed to be down at the non EU desk

Didn't look like the T1 folks and there horrible uniform

interesting, maybe the immigration lads in dublin will work then. eu / uk flights are simply waving people on