Dublin Airport has today officially welcomed the 17,000,000 thpassenger of the year through its busy terminal buildings - the equivalent of more than four times the population of Ireland.
The lucky passenger was three-year-old Ciara Moss, who arrived at the airport at 11.25 a.m. on Ryanair flight FR207 from Stansted. She was accompanied by her father Keith and mother Helen.
The were met by Ciara's grandfather, Mr Gerry Doyle from Dun Laoghaire. Ciara was presented with a teddy bear and a €2,500 flight voucher. Her father was presented with a bottle of champagne and her mother received a bouquet of flowers.
It is the first time in the 64-year history of Dublin airport that the 17 million passenger total has been reached in one year.
Mr Robert Hiliard, director of Dublin Airport, said the event was a "historic milestone".
"To put this in context it means that the equivalent of more than four times the entire population of Ireland have travelled through Dublin Airport this year alone.
He said a number of records had been broken this year - the airport had welcomed 34 new routes and services, had seen one million additional passengers pass through and now had 46 airlines serving 102 destinations.
When the airport at Collinstown in north Dublin opened in 1940 some 55,568 passengers passed through its then tiny terminal. By 1954, this had grown to nearly 350,000 a year and by 1994 to some 6.9 million.