The original North Terminal building at Dublin Airport is a “vanguard of modern design” and should not be demolished, a leading journalist has said.

The building was opened in 1959 and has been described as a “rare example of modernist infrastructural architecture”.

It is currently the home to a Garda Station at the airport and its future is up in the air in light of Dublin Airport’s expansion plans to accommodate up to 40 million passengers a year.

On Moncrieff today, former Irish Times Environment Editor Frank McDonald said many people are “unaware” the building even exists.

“It’s right beside the original terminal building,” he said.

“It's like a monument to the romantic era of air travel and I’m old enough to remember the lovely atmosphere that it had.”

The North Terminal building at Dublin Airport. Image: Frank McDonald.

Mr McDonald said it was originally built to cope with the “growing demand of air travel” in the 1950s.

“Particularly for all transatlantic and European flights and later on as an arrival area for all passengers,” he said.

"Thereafter, the north terminal catered for VIP arrivals and departures."

“You would have had visiting heads of state and Government who would have been received at the North Terminal and put in their motorcade to wherever they were going.

“Lots of famous people would have gone through the North Terminal over the years and it also served Irish troops going on UN missions overseas.”

North Terminal design

Mr McDonald said it was designed in the 1950s by the Transport Department’s chief architect Leo Carroll.

“It’s a rare example of modernist infrastructural architecture derived from a sensitivity to context and all the rest of it,” he said.

“It embodies the ideals of a progressive and innovative Ireland.

“Much of its interior is still intact even though it’s been compartmentalised over the years.”

'Cultural significance'

The former Irish Times journalist compared the North Terminal to other great buildings across the State.

“It’s seen as being of architectural, social, and cultural significance at the vanguard of modern design, comparable with the airport's original terminal building and other modern icons like Busáras on Store Street,” he said.

“It’s not a very large building, like Busáras or the original terminal building, but it is one of those buildings that did make a statement about Ireland.”

The current number of passengers who can travel through Dublin Airport is capped at 32 million a year.

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Main image: An aerial view of Dublin Airport from the perspective of a Boeing 737. Image: Mint Photography / Stockimo / Alamy Stock Photo