Dublin Airport Departures

Transplant athletes welcomed home

EOIN BURKE-KENNEDY

AIRPORT ARRIVAL halls can be emotional places at the best of times. But you’d be hard pushed to witness more moving scenes than those at Dublin airport yesterday when Ireland’s transplant athletes returned home from the World Transplant Games in Sweden.

Most had triumphed against unimaginable adversity just to attend the event and it showed, not only on their faces but in the tears and hugs that greeted them as they spilled out into the arrivals hall shortly after midday.

The Irish team of 33 athletes, ranging in age from nine to 70, took home an impressive 36 medals and a new world record in the long jump. The athletes were among 1,100 competitors from 54 countries who participated in the biennial event which was held this year in Gothenburg.

Perhaps the star of the show was nine-year-old Oisín O’Gorman from Waterford, who bagged three gold medals and a silver on his way to becoming the youngest ever Irish transplant athlete to win gold. “It just feels great to come back with a load of medals,” he said.

His father Kieran, who donated a kidney to him two years ago after he had suffered kidney lacerations in a bicycle accident, said: “It’s not about medals, it’s about friendship and creating awareness around transplantation.”

John Moran (52), a kidney transplant recipient from Glasnevin, Dublin, achieved the team’s biggest medal haul, winning two gold and three silver medals from five cycling and track events. “It’s great to go and meet other people in the same boat, so to speak, and to see how fit they can be.”

Robbie Lyons, a 17-year-old kidney transplant recipient from Co Laois, won a gold and two silver medals, smashing the world long jump record for his age category, with a 5.30m leap. Taking only silver in the 100m metres still needled him, however. “I just got beaten by 0.06 of a second. I wish I could do it again,” he said.

Amid the melee of hugs and photographs stood Beaumont transplant surgeon David Hickey, who had come to salute the team’s achievements. Dr Hickey, who had taken part in a transplant operation that morning, said: “The games seem to breathe new life and ambition into patients, and they serve as a great promotion for organ donation.”

While the number of organs donated this year was up on 2010, the five-year figures have remained largely static, he said, and “the numbers going on dialysis is going up all the time”.

departures-dublin-airport-13 | scottiehamil819's blog

Departures dublin airport With over 700 buses operating out of Dublin Airport daily the choice of buses is very vast indeed. If you need to get to another terminal quickly, the Airport Link Train service takes just two minutes. The one-way trip costs $13.40 AUD per adult.

Qantas Domestic Flight passengers, check your eligibility to use the Qantas Seamless Transfer Service.

Transport from Airport to Sydney city

To reach your Sydney accommodation fast or to get sightseeing right away, you can take a train, bus, taxi or hire car from Terminals 2 or 3.

If hailing a taxi, have ready an extra $2.50 (surcharge) along with your fare. The following amounts provide a rough guideline on prices you can expect for a one-way fare to the following main areas of Sydney: City or North Sydney ($25-32.50 AUD), Manly ($50 AUD), Parramatta ($85 AUD), Liverpool ($55 AUD) or Cronulla ($45 AUD). Pick any of the comparable six cab operators at the shared taxi ranks directly outside the Airport doors: there’s a hefty fine for getting a taxi outside a rank, and the flow of taxis here is constant, so there’s really no need to look elsewhere. As throughout Australia, tipping is appreciated, but not an institution.

Trains take around 15 minutes to Sydney City, with an integrated bus/train/ferry ticket available from the driver. An all-day, any-mode-of-transport ticket is around $15 AUD. View train timetables at stations in the Arrivals area of Terminals 2 and 3.

Buses operate only from Terminals 1 and 3. If you do arrive in Terminal 2, a $5 AUD T-Bus ticket can get you to a public city bus service in 10 minutes.

Hire cars are available form a range of operators, including names you’ll recognise (Hertz Rental Cars, amongst others), from the Arrival Level of Terminals 2 and 3. Most Sydney hotels offer valet or off-street parking, making rental car costs an affordable convenience.

Once you find your way out of Sydney Airport — whether you’re grabbing luggage and going, or shopping for hours — smile: you will have started your visit to Sydney in one of the busiest and brightest airports in Australia and the world.

After Paris, which is the largest airport in France, Toulouse airport (TLS) ranks number 4 in size and capacity, following on from Nice airport, Lyon airport and Marseille airport.

Toulouse airport handles over five and a half million passengers per year, although the terminal has been designed with a capacity of 6.2 million passengers per year, and is the second largest freight airport after Paris. This makes Toulouse airport arrivals the busiest of all the airports that serve the Languedoc area of South west France.

Travel Ireland for Smartphones and Mobile Devices - Travel Guide and Maps

Fodor's Ireland 2011

Ireland

Conducting tours

Ireland Guide, Your Pasport to Great Travel!