Interesting to note today that FR has announced new routes ex-Dublin, including Malta, Stockholm and "the Canary Islands" (not tying themselves to any particular one!). I'm surprised because I thought MO'L would have wanted clarification on the whole fees thing before they committed to any more expansion.
Maybe, as you suggest towards the end of your post, EI-RB, the time has now come to bring in outside investors, if the DAA can't raise the funds. I still think there is something fundamentally dishonest and deliberately misleading about splitting the cost of the pier and terminal; why do they have to do this? I can't think of anywhere else that these are separated, can anyone else? What's the point - why not say straight out that the terminal includes the Pier cost and that's EUR 600m.
We're now getting towards election time and FF is having a "think in" this weekend, to come up with new policies. I think it's important that the fiasco that is Dublin Airport is brought to and kept at the forefront, because really, it's an embarrassment. Fundamentally, the govt - while conceding that DUB is part of the state's critical infrastructure, has completely failed to maintain control over the DAA and ensure that it provides the required infrastructure. Unfortunately, the big stick approach is needed, hence my proposal above about confining the DAA to the regulatory aspects of running an airport.