Airports across Ireland will effectively shut down on Wednesday afternoon as air traffic controllers attend Irish Municipal Public and Civil Trade Union (IMPACT) meetings.

Dublin and Shannon will have no air traffic controllers at their stations from 2 p.m. to 6 p.m., while their colleagues at Cork airport will be away from their posts from 4 p.m. to 6 p.m.

The issue at the heart of the dispute is the introduction of new technology. A total of 15 air traffic controllers (10 in Dublin and five in Shannon) were suspended for not embracing the new technology.

The union meetings were scheduled for tomorrow to discuss this problem alsongside some pay and pension issues IMPACT wants addressed by the Irish Aviation Authority (IAA).

Flights traversing Irish airspace will also be adversely affected by the action.