'I'm an air traffic controller at Dublin Airport, here's what my day looks like'

Hundreds of unsung heroes, who are prepared for every eventuality such as medical emergencies to rogue drones, work day and night keeping the busy skies above Ireland safe. The Irish Mirror met one of them when we went behind the scenes at Dublin Airport's Air Traffic Control Tower earlier this week. Laura Downey, who has worked as an air traffic controller for nine years, revealed she could speak to at least 100 pilots in a single shift and deal with up to 12 at any one time. The 32-year-old, who has always had a passion for aviation, acknowledges her job can get incredibly stressful at times but said her training has readied her for anything. Laura is one of more than 300 air traffic controllers employed by AirNav across Ireland, which is responsible for 451,000 km2 of Irish airspace. She said on a typical day she could deal with several medical emergencies such as a pilot declaring that one of their passengers has had an epileptic fit or went into anaphylactic shock because of an allergy. Dublin Airport air traffic controller, Laura Downey (Image: Colin Keegan, Collins, Dublin) But Laura says it becomes even more stressful when there is a problem with the plane itself. Speaking to the Irish Mirror, the experienced air traffic controller explained: "Medical emergencies would happen frequently throughout the day, what we generally do is offer that plane direct and work around them. "We make sure there are no delays given to the plane that has declared a medical emergency. We work around that aircraft. If it's more of a technical emergency surrounding the aircraft, tensions would get a bit higher. "There's a lot of pressure and you're trying to get information from the pilots but the pilots are busy with their checklists. "But we're all trained. We handle them a lot more frequently than people would think. The ones that make the news are usually the diversions but there are other ones that do come in like if a plane was scheduled to land in Dublin in any way." Air traffic controllers at their screens in the radar centre pictured at ATC in Dublin Airport (Image: Colin Keegan, Collins, Dublin) She also recalls they rarely know which celebrities are onboard the private planes that jet into Dublin unless they know their registration number - but does recall seeing Taylor Swift when she came last year. But she explained there are strict procedures in place for when a US President comes to Ireland - such as Joe Biden's visit in 2023. Laura said: "Last year, Taylor Swift was doing her tour in Dublin and when she landed we were all in the tower looking out but we couldn't see much - but you could see them getting off the private jet. "But for the likes of the US President coming in, there is massive security around the building and they are given priority. We sterilise the airspace and the runway around them. Laura explains to reporter Danny De Vaal about how it all works (Image: Colin Keegan, Collins, Dublin) "For the likes of Taylor Swift or the joe-soap celebrities, we don't even know who's on the plane unless you know what their private jet call sign is. They're treated the exact same as you and I." Efficiency at Dublin Airport has massively improved since the opening of the airport's second runway in 2022 - which means one can be used for departures and the other for arrivals. In total, around 700 flights take off and depart Dublin Airport every day - with approximately 60 taking off or landing each hour. Laura explains that she begins speaking to pilots on their approach into Dublin - which is typically from around 25 miles out. She spends her shift looking at a 2D monitor of planes that are in the capital's airspace and decides which order they can land in. But Laura said if she sat back and actually thought about how many passengers she was responsible for, she wouldn't be able to do her job properly. The air traffic control tower at Dublin Airport (Image: Colin Keegan, Collins, Dublin) She explained: "If you overthink about how many people are on your screen and be like there's 200 people on that plane, there's 200 people on that one and there's a 100 people on that, I don't think you'd effectively be able to do the job. "Obviously, you just think you and the pilot are doing a job and you obviously have the safety in the back of your head. But once you follow the rules,you can do the job well." The air traffic controller said she has never come across anything strange while looking at the radar but said pilots have reported seeing helium balloons out of the cockpit window while they cruise through the clouds. Laura also made clear that air traffic controllers work even when it's bad weather and it's down to the airlines and pilots whether or not flights are cancelled. She was on hand during Storm Éowyn, which battered the country in January and saw hundreds of flights axed. Laura said: "For Storm Eowyn, we were all here. We're still here to provide air traffic control service. It comes down to the pilots and the airlines if they choose not to fly. But they took the red weather warning and chose not to fly. But we were all here. "Same for the Beast from the East, there was still an air traffic control service available. We are here 24/7 but it comes down to the airlines and the pilots." 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