DUBLIN AIRPORT’S TERMINAL 2 will open today – but already the new facility has drawn the ire of some international commentators.

Described in The Telegraph as “the Irish economy in microcosm” the terminal is criticised for being (at least) three times its original budget and landing the Dublin Airport Authority in significant debt – however the biggest reproach is aimed at the very existence of the terminal, at a time when air traffic is steadily collapsing and major airlines are cutting flights.

Spokesperson for the DAA Paul O’Kane said that Terminal 2 was “not three times its original budget,” and added “The only budget for T2 is the 609 euro million budget which the terminal and its associated facilities was built for”.

The opening of the terminal coincides with the very day IMF delegates arrive in Ireland to formally hammer out a financial rescue package.

Meanwhile, the Irish Times takes a more optimistic view on what Terminal 2 may come to represent – appreciating the architecture of the building, and praising its “sweeping curves and elegant streamlining”. Terminal 2 is at least, Frank McDonald adds, ”a highly creditable legacy of the boom”.