Residents in parts of north county Dublin say they are still experiencing severe disruption from aircraft noise despite changes to flight paths from Dublin Airport's second runway.
Earlier this week, daa amended the flight paths following complaints, but locals say the problems are persisting and they are now considering legal action.
People living in areas such as The Ward, Coolquay, Ballyboughal, St Margaret's and Kilsallaghan say the amended routes have not resolved the issue, with some saying the level of disruption has gotten worse in recent days.
When the second runway began operating on 24 August last year, locals noticed that aircraft were flying routes that had not been outlined in the planning permission for the runway.
Airport operator daa admitted some flight paths from the new runway did not comply with the models submitted when it applied for planning permission and said safety requirements had led to some areas being "unexpectedly overflown".
It apologised to the communities affected and said it hoped to resolve the issue by aligning flightpaths "more closely with the information previously communicated by daa".
At the time, locals expressed concern that this would not resolve the issues they were experiencing, which included excessive noise levels, rattling windows and aircraft fumes.
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Patricia Finnegan, Deputy Principal, Kilcoskan National School in The Ward, said that for the past six months teaching and learning has been disrupted and the issue has gotten worse since the flight paths were amended in recent days.
"We're located in an idyllic setting. We're used to peace and quiet and calm but our teaching has been impacted and children have been impacted by this level of noise.
"We don't have a PE hall here so if we try to conduct PE lesson out in the yard ... we've found it is just falling flat. The kids can't hear us, they can't hear our directions, they can't hear the whistle for example.
"A couple of months ago we had a school concert in the yard with parents here, we had to stop it. Things that we would have always been able to do, all of a sudden, we can't do. It's impacting the teachers, we've all commented on it.
"We find it really difficult to keep focused. You're losing the kids mid-lesson. They're looking out the window as the planes go by. They're looking up mid lesson, so it's really impacting us at the moment".
She is also concerned about the impact the noise is having on students with additional needs.
"We are very lucky to have 12 students with additional needs here and all of their needs are different but things like noise, things like changing circumstances really affect children with those kinds of levels of significant needs and we're concerned that that may not be displayed today, but it will come.
"We're really concerned it's going to have a massive impact not just on their learning but on their social and emotional well being. They find it really difficult to concentrate and any change to their environment really has an impact on their learning".
Breffini Connaty, who lives in nearby Coolquay, said the new flights have had a severe impact on he and his family's daily life.
"It's hard at times to just put into words because it's so intrusive.
"People will say to you, it's just planes and you live near the airport and all those things but when my kids are outside, they come inside because they can't hear each other, they get frustrated with the noise. When they come inside the TV has to be turned up louder.
"I work from home three days a week and I do a lot of Zoom meetings. I constantly have to be on mute. There's times where if I am talking, my colleagues will say 'oh that's just a plane flying over'. So it just breaks any pattern that you want to have in your day.
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"I know people say it's just plane noise and it's like any other noise but it's not. It's different. It's very, very intrusive, and it certainly can get on top of you which we're trying to avoid but it's impossible. It's just too hard".
He said that he, his wife and three young children feel there is no escape from the noise.
"We go to play football in the GAA club, the noise is there. You go for a walk around in the area, we can't even listen to headphones. We pack our bags up into the car and we sometimes go to a park in Swords or Malahide and that gives us a break and every time we load them up to go back into the car we give that sigh, right back into it."
He said the problem has gotten worse in recent days and he is now extremely concerned about the daa plans to extend the operation times of the North Runway.
"Where previously it was incredibly irritating and you might get maybe more sporadic breaks in the day, maybe ten minutes before you get a plane coming over your house. It's now every three minutes. So it has certainly gotten worse.
"I dread the thought of this turning into a flight plan where it's every two minutes and it goes from 7am in the morning until 11pm at night. I'm petrified".
Dr Niamh Maher, who lives in St Margaret's, said she is concerned about the impact the incessant noise is having on the health of her and her young family.
Speaking to RTÉ News in her back garden, it is difficult to make out what the consultant obstetrician is saying as planes roar above her home.
She describes the day last August when the North Runway began to operate.
"It was such a shock to the system because obviously we weren't expecting it. We're used to a certain amount of background noise from planes because we live near an airport but this is absolutely unbelievable.
"It's hard to describe unless you're actually underneath the noise what it's like. You could see the writing on the underneath of planes.
"My daughter was crying, she asked me why were there giant planes in the backyard and I just said they're not giant, they're just really, really close, and my son just looked kind of stunned. When the particularly large planes, for example, the ones that are going to the States are flying over the house, they tend to pass over at much lower altitudes, they're bigger and they're heavier.
"The whole house vibrates and shakes. You can see a glass tremoring on the table. That's not normal".
"That's not something that anyone should have to live with and it is also concerning for the structure of your home. You leave work, you come home for some peace and to be honest, we've had no peace with all of this. It is something that you weren't expecting because you weren't meant to be in this situation."
"I am concerned about the effect that it's going to have on firstly on my kids' health and as we know that aircraft noise does have adverse effects on your health in terms of increasing blood pressure, cardiovascular effects, increased risk of diabetes.
"For kids it can be associated with issues with learning or cognition, and also more worryingly, anxiety and depression as well. I'm a doctor so obviously I've been looking into all of this. Being a nuisance and potentially affecting your sleep is one thing but if it has a long-term effect on my own or my children's health, that's really worrying.
"I'm a really healthy person and I recently developed high blood pressure. I was shocked by this but a lot of it was just the background stress that I'm thinking about all the time. I can't get away from it and it's upsetting"
'Ongoing challenge' - daa
In a statement daa described balancing the needs of a growing airport and the requirements of its nearest residents as an "ongoing challenge".
It said some areas that were unexpectedly overflown will continue to be, but at higher altitudes. Others will be exposed to aviation noise but it said it will be less than before.
daa said the flight paths began operating on Thursday having undergone the required regulatory review and took into account factors such as other airfield airspace and parallel runway operations.
It said areas such as St Margaret’s, Shallon and The Ward Cross will continue to be overflown as anticipated, whilst other areas like Oldtown and Ballyboughal will also continue to be overflown but at higher altitudes.
Areas such as Skephubble, Kilsallaghan and Rolestown will no longer be directly overflown by jet aircraft but will still be exposed to a certain amount of aviation noise, albeit less than currently.
The statement said it expected that the overall number of houses impacted by noise will be similar to that previously communicated, but it said a small number of dwellings which were previously on the verge of eligibility for mitigation measures may become eligible as a result of these revised flight paths.
daa said it intends to engage with these dwellings regarding the required mitigations as soon as possible, and that 18 new noise monitoring terminals will be added to the 13 that are already in place.
In a statement, Fingal County Council said it is planning enforcement team has issued a letter to daa and is examining complaints into the operation of the North Runway.
"Following the opening of the new North Runway at Dublin Airport, the Council has received a number of complaints relating to its operation. On the back of that, our planning enforcement team began to look into the issue and a warning letter was subsequently issued to the daa.
"Since that time, there has been an ongoing investigation, with further information related to the runway usage currently being reviewed."
David Walton, of the Ballyboughal Community Forum, said residents groups from a number of areas have raised €30,000 towards a legal challenge and are continuing to gather funds with a view to taking a case.
