People flying from Dublin Airport were left in tears after missing flights over "extremely long" security delays on Friday.
Dozens of people planning a trip abroad for the weekend had to return home after "chaos" at Terminal 1 during one of the busiest times for departures.
Several stressed passengers took to social media on Friday evening at around 6pm to voice their frustration over the lines, with many experiencing queues in excess of one hour.
Pictures also showed the queues stretching back in the terminal to where the check-in desks are located, meaning people faced a significant wait to even get to security.
Ryanair apologised for the delays, and attributed the issue to insufficient staff being rostered by Dublin Airport Authority.
The airline's customer service account said on Twitter at 6.10pm on Friday: "Passenger notification: Due to DAA not having enough staff rostered at Dublin airport, security queues are extremely long.
"Please arrive at the airport three hours pre-departure.
"We apologise to any of our passengers affected; this is outside our control.
"If you are affected, we will try to accommodate passengers on the next available flights."
One Dublin woman who was due to set off for a weekend in Luxemburg described the scenes as "carnage" and said she had never seen such long queues at Dublin Airport before.
Clare O'Hanlon arrived at the terminal two hours before her flight was due to depart but couldn't believe the volume of people waiting to even get to security.
The queues were "around 100 metres long" leading up to the area where people scan their boarding passes and although the line was moving, "it just didn't move fast enough", she said.
She was still waiting to even get to security when she saw her flight was boarding, so Clare abandoned all hope as she knew she wouldn't make her flight.
"It was carnage, it was chaos, to be honest," she told the Irish Mirror.
"There were loads of frustrated people and people in the same position who ended up not making flights.
"I've been to so many airports in my life and I've never seen anything like that.
"I came into Dublin Airport, and everyone else was the same, and there was frustration, a lot of missed flights, and everyone was just so stressed. I've never seen Dublin Airport like that, it was crazy.
"You would think there's a way to know this stuff in advance and what the peak time was."
Clare ended up sticking around at the airport for another hour to let traffic ease before heading home and she noticed a visible reduction in passenger volumes as the evening went on.
"It was still busy but just not to the same extent so I think the time slot I was in was the absolute peak," she said.
"But I would have presumed there was a way, logistically, to plan for that and be able to handle the amount of numbers that were due to go through."
Clare said Ryanair offered to put her on the next available plane to Luxemburg but as the times didn't suit, she ended up "taking the hit" and losing both flights.
Other people at the airport around the same time described seeing passengers "crying at the gate" over the stressful situation.
One said: "@DublinAirport today more than 100 persons miss their flights because of a problem in the airport entrance to the gates. I miss my flight and hotel. A lot of money. How can I get all my money back?"
A second wrote: "@DublinAirport I missed my flight on Friday with @Ryanair due to LONG delays at security. Can you please advise where to put a complaint so we can get our money back? (Flights, hotel, car park...) Thanks."
Some people ended up paying for Fast Track access through security, but this queue soon became jammed as well.
One passenger said: "Anyone travelling to @DublinAirport be warned it’s packed. The queue for Fast Track in all the way down to the @Ryanair check-in. People including me are worried they are not going to make their flights!"
A second commented: "Fast track was no better, took nearly 1.5h to get through fast track, missed the flight obviously."
While a third wrote: "Missed my flight, nearly 1.5h in 'fast track'."
A spokesperson for DAA said passengers should arrive at Dublin Airport a minimum of two hours before their short-haul flight departs.
They told the Irish Mirror: "With passenger numbers steadily increasing at Dublin Airport, particularly at weekends and with a very busy extended St Patrick’s Holiday period ahead, we continue to advise passengers travelling on short-haul flights to arrive at the airport a minimum of two hours before the boarding of their flight and three hours before the boarding of a long-haul flight and to allow at least an extra 30 minutes if using a long term car park.
"Intending passengers should allow this time to check-in and go through security screening."
