Fantastic weekend
IRELAND is basking in a mini-heatwave – as the mercury soars for the hottest weekend of the year so far.
Temperatures hit a blistering 23C in parts of the country yesterday and the outlook is for more of the same today.
Met Eireann warned there is the chance of a few light showers but for the most part we’re in for another glorious day of sunshine.
The mood was definitely sunny yesterday as a bumper weekend of sport, music and outdoor events attracted crowds in their droves.
Beaches were packed and bathers made a splash at the Forty Foot and Seapoint in Dublin.
Music fans were also catered for at the Rockathon festival in Fairyhouse, with a family day in aid of the Jack & Jill Foundation at Palmerstown House in Co Kildare.
There were thrills and spills a-plenty at the Red Bull Conquer The Cashel event in Co Tipperary, featuring 20 obstacles across a gruelling 2km course.
And in Cork, Live at the Marquee made a welcome return with a rescheduled gig by The Coronas which was postponed last year due to Covid-19 restrictions.
The warm weather was also welcomed by sports fans as the provincial GAA football finals got under way and Leinster faced La Rochelle in France.
Ever the showman, Conor Mcgregor also got in on the sporting action posing for a photo with Mick Schumacher, son of legendary F1 driver Michael, at the Monaco Grand Prix.
The Dublin fighter made the short hop from Cannes where he kept photographers busy posing on the red carpet with his other half Dee and stars such as Kylie Minogue. Meanwhile, Liverpool fans arrived in Paris from near and far to support their club in the European Cup Final.
Dubliners Kim Cunningham, 27, and her brother David, 18, flew to the city on Friday as Kim said they were looking forward to a “very exciting game”.
Revealing her family had been die-hard fans of the Reds all their lives, she added: “I think we’re
looking at either 3-2 to Liverpool, or 2-1.”
However it wasn’t all plain sailing for sports fans and others trying to get away for the weekend.
Queues through security checks at Dublin Airport stretched outside Terminal 1 for the second day in a row as 50,000 passengers scrambled to catch flights.
Many faced lengthy lines getting through to the departure gates on what airport operator DAA acknowledged as “another busy day”.
Among the travellers was broadcaster Teena Gates who was heading on her first holiday post-pandemic to Morocco.
Teena, a full-time carer to her elderly dad Terry who has dementia, was left fuming at the way the mobility desk was operating.
She told the Irish Sunday Mirror: “At departures you present your details, sit in the rather dirty open cubicle, and wait for as many hours as is necessary for a wheelchair and attendant to arrive. “After shouting your name from a list, they then wheel you through security, past all the restaurants, and past the airport’s busy shopping area, until you reach an empty corridor, where you are left sitting against a wall, and you wait again.
“I have been told that you can interrupt the wheelchair attendant and ask to purchase something en route, but I have tried this a number of times and been told it’s not possible.
“Sometimes no wheelchair appears at the gate and you are asked to walk to the plane. I call this the ‘Dublin Airport Lazarus Approach’ to mobility.
“This experience feels abnormal, lonely, stressful, unpleasant and rather dirty. It makes me feel apologetic for having mobility issues – it makes me feel guilty, sad, disappointed, excluded, embarrassed, angry and isolated.
“Our elderly tourists are having a nightmare experience.”
DAA spokesman Graeme Mcqueen said: “It’s another busy Saturday at Dublin Airport at the start of what is going to be another busy weekend.
“However, security processing has moved well all morning, enabled by DAA’S teams on the floor in both terminals.
“Today will see around 50,000 passengers depart from Dublin Airport.
“As well as our regular travellers, we’re seeing lots of Leinster and Liverpool fans heading off to France this morning to watch their respective teams in European action.
“Overall, passengers were in good form, with those who heeded our advice – to get to the airport up to 2.5 hours ahead of a short-haul flight and 3.5 hours before a long-haul flight – getting through security smoothly.”
This whole experience feels lonely, stressful & rather dirty TEENA GATES DUBLIN AIRPORT YESTERDAY