Security in Knock Airport(or lack of it!)
i parked the car at Ireland west airport on Thursday 11th Oct 2007 for the weekend.All well!Imagine my surprise when relaxing on my sisters lounge in the UK at 11pm Saturday I get a call from Swinford Garda telling me that my car and over 30 others had been broken into in the secure, surveillanced car park of the airport ; Just Great!!! I thought to myself!Not exactly!Anyway it was late so I called the Garda station on the following day, Sunday (the day I was flying back to Knock airport).They fully sympathised with mine and over 30 other holidaymakers that were going to arrive back into knock for a nice surprise. I also called the airport security (or lack of!) and the washed their hands of it stating the garda “were now handling it!” Maybe if security “handled it” the previous night these hoodlums would not managed to get at over 30 cars!So no soot there! Upon arriving into knock airport I went straight to the security desk to be confronted with “there was a couple of car break-ins over the weekend”Then I was presented with a hastily prepared letter of non-responsibility “as patrons park at own risk etc” but as a gesture they would waive my parking fee which amounted to 28€. (How kind!)Also they stated that I should check with my insurance company, do they think were total fools?I checked out the airports website and there was no mentioned of parking at own risk, it just states“For security reasons the Car Park is only open to the public when the airport is open. The Car Park is covered by 24-hour security surveillance and the entire site is locked down every evening”Fair enough, but my question is two-fold,1/What am I paying my parking fee (plus my 10€ development fee) for if not for secure parking?I would take this as a given!2/If the car park at the airport is not secure, why don’t we all park outside it as it seems to be as secure as inside the fence?(plus saving a few bob!!!)I can safely say that I am not alone in this plus the fact that Ireland West airport will not have the benefit of my custom again.Yours John Mannion