Ireland has been slow to name its airports after people. Streets and housing estates, yes, but as Ronan McGreevy points out, the State is more inclined to honour those who died for Ireland rather than those who lived for it.

A Bill to rename Dublin Airport after former taoiseach Seán Lemass has been brought forward in the Dáil.

It is not the first time the suggestion has been made; four years ago Taoiseach Micheál Martin proposed it, but talk of it fizzled out.

For McGreevy, an Irish Times journalist and historian whose next book is on Lemass, the former taoiseach and leader of Fianna Fáil (1959-1966) is a clear choice.

He tells In the News how Lemass was a great moderniser and as minister for industry and commerce when the airport opened in 1940, was a a supporter of facilitating air travel both in and out of the country.

The proposed legislation was introduced on Tuesday by Fianna Fáil TD Malcolm Byrne, who said the airport “owes much to his policies and foresight”.

So will the Seán Lemass Dublin International Airport Bill 2025 succeed? And why are we so reluctant to honour our former taoisigh? He points out that Cork’s Jack Lynch Tunnel is the only piece of State infrastructure named after a former leader.

Presented by Bernice Harrison. Produced by Suzanne Brennan and John Casey. 

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