Éamon Ó Cuív (Galway West, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I absolutely welcome Mr. Meade's clear statement here today - I think he said it twice - that Collooney to Claremorris is part of Iarnród Éireann's long-term plans. The rail strategy refers to connecting Dublin Airport to rail. That is a fairly expensive project, although it would be great. If it was heavy rail, it could bring people all around the country. I am not against the metro. The metro is a different job, which is internal to Dublin. Cork would be difficult and Limerick is expensive. The cheapest by far is Knock Airport. Some 800,000 people arrive there. If 10% of them took the train, that is 80,000 people. It is only ten minutes of a commuter hop.

In other words, it takes less time to get from Knock Airport to Charlestown than it takes to get from a terminal in Dublin Airport to the red car park in Dublin Airport, by the time you have gone into Google Maps and figured out how long it takes. That is without even having to walk beyond the front door of Knock Airport because it is so small. It is a very quick airport to get out of. You would not be as far as the red car park in Dublin by the time you would be in Charlestown from Knock Airport.