Dublin Airport’s working on a ‘new approach’ to the 75-year tradition of allowing a priest to bless aircraft on Christmas day.
According to griot.ie the move came following objections by a secular campaigner.
A statement from Dublin Airport said: Due to recent changes to security protocols, airside access is now restricted to airport operations only. For this reason, non-operational activities can no longer be facilitated airside. We are currently working on a new approach to facilitating the traditional Christmas blessing of the planes at Dublin Airport.
The annual blessing ceremony dates back to 1947. Initially, it involved only Aer Lingus aircraft, each of which is named after saints and was held in summer. From 1967, the ceremony has been held every Christmas Day, given that it is the only day the airport is closed.
Nowadays, the blessing is ecumenical and covers all planes, including Ryanair, and is carried out by Father Desmond “Des” Doyle, the chaplain in residence at the airport’s church – Our Lady Queen of Heaven.
While planes were previously blessed individually, current airport traffic makes this unfeasible, so a general blessing is performed instead from the airfield.
Father Des Doyle Doyle is from Rush, 12 miles northeast of the airport, and was working in Newport Beach, California, when he was recalled to serve as the airport chaplain in 2008.
