Carry on restrictions to Ireland?

There was a discussion on the Ryan Tubridy radio show this morning with representatives from Dublin airport. One of the contributors had flown from Paris to Dublin yesterday and despite there being no carry on restrictions on flights to Ireland the Air France desk refused to let him bring carry on luggage. He had called Air Frances customer support number the day before and they had told him there were no restrictions. The people on the radio show assumed that the check-in people in Paris thought that Ireland was part of the United Kingdom, damn those stupid Germans ;-). Still the point is valid, lots of foreigners dont know Ireland is not part of the United Kingdom so could apply the same restrictions to flight travelling to Ireland.

A listener txted in to point out that they had been made check in their car keys, house keys, mobile phone etc and then when they got to Dublin Airport their luggage was missing. If you are traveling through the UK and are not allowed check-in luggage it may be a good idea to leave a spare set of keys with a friend who could meet you at the airport in an emergency and remember their contact number (keep it on a piece of paper in your wallet) otherwise you could be stuck in the airport.

Either way it appears the travel restrictions are now being relaxed but you can assume that there will still be disruptions for a couple of days and some airlines may take longer than others to reinstate hand luggage. The announcement said passengers would be allowed one small item of hand luggage, half the size of previous allowances. Why they think a bag half the size of the old luggage will be safer than the older full size one is safer I dont know, all I know is I now have a carry on bag that is too big for "the long term" as will many other people. Electronics are allowed but liquids are still banned. Am I cynical when I point out you can buy drinks on the plane....?

Update: Reports on TV at the weekend said the terrorists had planned to buy new MP3 players in duty free and then modify them on the plane to make a detonator. As one friend of mine pointed out have you ever tried to open an MP3 player to change the battery or something simple? It's hard enough to do when you are at home never mind when you are about to commit suicide, jammed into an airplane seat and holding a bottle of explosives. The shoe bomber didn't manage to light a fuse on his shoe with a box of matches, how well do you think he would have done with a screwdriver and an MP3 player?