Dublin Airport Authority has announced an "internal review" after a "trespasser" got through security checks without a boarding pass on March 27.
“We never comment on security matters for obvious reasons. We note the speedy apprehension of the individual in this case by airport police, who was caught trespassing without a boarding card after being security screened, and his subsequent arrest by An Garda Síochána (Ireland's police) and successful prosecution before the courts. As with any such incident an internal review is underway," a DAA spokesman said.
Newspaper reports in Dublin said a 48 year old man named Abdul Ahmead, who gave an address in Newcastle in the UK, barged past security and managed to board an aircraft bound for Birmingham before being arrested.
The airport last year forced passengers to queue for hours to get through security checks as it struggled to cope with the rise in passenger numbers during the first summer after the lifting of Covid curbs.
More recently, the airport's management has had to deal with revelations that a former employee told Ireland's government that security was sub-standard.
Those allegations were made public amid at least six incidents of flight postponements and diversions since the start of 2023, due to drone-flying within the 5km no-fly zone around the airport, prompting ferocious criticism of the airport and the government by Michael O'Leary of Ryanair.
Passenger traffic at the airport, which is by far Ireland's busiest, was also disrupted over the weekend of March 25-26 by protestors complaining about the government's allegedly lax immigration policies, after further revelations that some arrivals were claiming refugee status after destroying passports or other identity cards while en route to Dublin.