Month: March 2007

SIPTU 1s to ballot its members for in- dustrial action at Shannon Airport.

Crunch talks are to take place to- morrow (Wednesday) at the airport between management and unions. The talks will centre on the thorny issue of staffing the security opera- tion at Shannon.

Already, 23 of the 90 temporary workers at Shannon have been told that their contracts will not be re- newed on March 23 next.

This follows the rejection by unions of the €35 million restructuring plan put forward by the Dublin Airport Authority (DAA), which involved the voluntary redundancy of 200

workers.

The meeting tomorrow between the Executive Chairman of the Shannon Airport Authority, Pat Shanahan, the airport director, Martin Moroney and senior union officials is seen as crucial to any alternative package that might be agreed.

However, SIPTU Industrial Or- ganiser, Tony Carroll confirmed in a letter circulated at Shannon, that the union was proceeding to a protective ballot for industrial action.

“The Labour Relations Commis- sion (LRC) convened a meeting of the three unions in Dublin Airport Authority Shannon last Wednesday to look at ways of involving the 1m- passe in the stalled cost reduction

programme at Shannon Airport,” the letter states.

“SIPTU and the union sought a reversal to the status quo situation relating to decisions made and an- nounced by the airport management including the giving of a terminal notice and contract workers to finish on March 23, 2007.

“SIPTU has now decided to pro- ceed to issue notice of its intention to ballot its members on a protective ballot for industrial action to be im- plemented in the event of the DAA proceeding to impose change unilat- erally which may affect in anyway on our members and/or in breach of our procedural agreements.

“The protective ballot for indus-

trial action in no way diminishes our commitment to engage with the DAA management through the LRC in trying to secure a settlement of all TSS UC ehe

“This ballot would not have been necessary had the company agreed to revert to the status quo as request- ed at the LRC while we processed the dispute through the normal pro- cedures. In the meantime, you may be approached by management to discuss matters, you are under no ob- ligation to talk to management as all these issues are 1n process.”

Already, the stalemate has resulted in the closure of the Marsh Point bar and the curtailment of restaurant hours.

late last year, Mr Aiken told of his ambi- tion to bring big-time musical enter- tainment back to Lisdoonvarna.

“To revive the old festival would be impossible. It would be just too hard to get planning. But there is no reason why a new festival can- not be designed. If Paddy Doherty and Christy Moore came on board, I would be more than ready to listen.

“We did attempt to revive the old Lisdoonvarna Festival, but it is very

difficult. But look at the likes of Bruce Springsteen and his new al- bum. If he decided to do a folk festi- val and someone asked me where to go with it, | would say Clare.”

Lisdoonvarna festival organiser, Paddy Doherty, paid tribute to the support that Aiken gave to the festi- val over the years.

“When we started off in 1978, Jim Aiken was the big promoter in the country,’ said Mr Doherty. “I always remember him calling up and wish- ing us the best. We were just two guys from down the country and it meant a lot for him to do that.

“I have great respect for him and have worked closely with him down the years and up as far as last Christ- mas. We have an ongoing associa- tion with Aiken Promotions and we would be looking to continue this relationship for any future Lisdoon- varna Festivals.”

Born on October 4, 1932, Jim Aik-

en was a physics and maths teacher for a number of years in Belfast, be- fore turning his attention to music promotion.

He finished teaching in 1965 to set up Aiken Promotions, which helped place Ireland on the international map for music over the last four dec- ades.

His other business interests in- cluded radio – he was involved in FM104 and Red FM – as well as music shops, and he was part of the consortium which brought HMV to Ireland.

Jim is survived by his wife, Anne, and his five children, Claire, Susan, Cathy, Joan and Peter who now runs Aiken Promotions.

ORGANISERS are hopeful that a re- vamped Lisdoonvarna Festival will be granted planning permission by Clare County Council, despite the local authority’s refusal to allow it to take place in Clare in 2003.

The festival was forced to relocate to Dublin following a decision not to grant planning permission for the event by the local authority in May of 2003.

In a written statement issued by the

planning department, it stated that “the unsuitability of the road net- work serving the area in terms of ca- pacity and width and the unsuitabuil- ity of proposed car parking facilities and threat to pedestrian safety” were the main reasons for not allowing the festival to take place.

The council also said the concert would unduly interfere with safety and the free flow of traffic and en- danger public safety by reason of traffic hazard but did accept “the general suitability” of the concert

venue Site.

A group of 200 motorcyclists from Waterford were blamed for marring the last festival which took place in Lisdoonvarna is 1983.

The large group reportedly de- scended on the north Clare town on the Saturday evening of the festival wielding iron bars and threatening festival-goers.

The scene was described at the time by Superintendent Tim Leahy as “one of the roughest and dirtiest we have experienced”.

TOURISM bodies in the mid-west and Shannon airport management must “get their act together” in the aftermath of the end of the Shannon Stopover.

That was the message delivered by Transport Minister Martin Cullen (FF) yesterday, who said an urgent marketing strategy is required. He promised Government support for Shannon.

“Is there a fu- ture there for Shannon? Abso- lutely. People in the mid-west have to get their act to- gether,” he said.

He dispelled

suggestions from opposition politi- COE TeNsmanet-| mp usseele) Vc ing the stopover was akin to re- moving “a piece of infrastructure’ from the mid- west.

“l’m spending billions to ensure infrastructure remains in place in Clare,’ he said.

He said that while the Open Skies deal was being negotiated over the past few years, Shannon may have “held back” and remained in a “‘com- fort zone”’.

“Twenty-two different gatewaus in the States have expressed inter- est in having a connection with Ire- land. Not all of them will develop, but some of them will. Competition

for Shannon is not necessarily from Dublin. Shannon’s competition 1s other airports in the UK and Eu- rope,” he said.

“One only has to see Knock de- veloping new routes going into the States, and it hasn’t the population base that Shannon has. Shannon is very sustainable,’ he said.

‘This debate is over. The sooner we accept that, the better,” he said.

Clare Fianna Fail TD Tony Killeen

said it was obvious for a number of years that the end of the stopover was “imevitable”’.

Je CRS Hem aet-dmcybelee it was first mooted, major progress has been made on various tour- ism projects in the mid-west.

‘There is no rea- son why Shannon can’t get some of them (22 Ameri-

can gateways). Shannon is in a much better position than it was in the late 80s/early 90s,” he said.

He said he did not believe the tim- ing of last Friday’s agreement was hugely significant, in the face of the imminent general election.

“T think it is good timing to tell the people what the situation is, surely. In terms of timing, I think it 1s per- fectly alright to tell people now be- fore the election,’ he said.

THE Clare tourism industry is not pre- pared to deal with the consequences of Open Skies if it is brought in in the near future, according to Manager of Dromoland Castle and member of the Clare Tourism Council, Mark Nolan. Mr Nolan also believes that Open Skies would be of long-term benefit to tourism in the region if Govern- ment support is forthcoming in terms

of marketing and transport infrastruc- nb Cen

“If the change is to come soon, then we are not prepared. There is still a lot of uncertainty about when and how the changeover will actually happen,” he rEIOb

One of the critical things is to im- prove the infrastructure around Shan- non. The people who are using Dublin would prefer to fly out of anywhere ac- cept for Dublin but the infrastructure

must be there to allow people to get to S)aeeTeveleyee

“We are now competing with five or six airports around the country. It 1s no longer a situation of Shannon verses Dublin,” he said.

Despite the feeling in some quarters that the agreement will damage tour- ism in Clare, Mr Nolan is confident that it will be ultimately beneficial.

“This is really nothing new, we have heard it all before. I believe that it will

actually be good for business in the medium to long-term, but there will be some negative impacts in the short term,” he continued.

“It is very important that a marketing package be put in place to help main- tain the market in North America. We have been told 30, 40, 50 and 100 mil- lion for this at different times. Fifty five per cent of our business here in Dromoland comes out of North Amer- ica,’ he added.

COMMENTING on the recent an- nouncement that a EU-US Open Skies draft agreement has been reached Pat Shanahan, Chairman of the Shannon Airport Authority, said that the chal- lenge will be to address the airport’s cost base, keep existing customers and bring new business in.

The chairman said yesterday that Shannon Airport has been preparing for Open Skies for some time and has built up an extensive range of transat-

lantic services which carried almost 800,000 passengers in 2006.

“The challenge Shannon now faces is that we must persuade airlines to retain their current level of services and develop new ones in an open market.”

He added “I believe that while Open Skies poses a challenge to Shannon Airport, the retention and further de- velopment of year-round transatlantic services and passenger/cargo traffic 1s achievable supported by a strong US marketing campaign, improvements

in road and rail infrastructure in the region and a substantial reduction in our cost base.”

Shanahan added the airport has the required facilities and capacity to service further growth of transat- lantic services and it is the authority’s intention to further enhance those facilities with the establishment of a Full US Customs and Border Protec- tion Inspection post in 2008 which would provide Shannon with an es- sential competitive advantage over other European Airports when devel-

oping additional services.

‘Shannon has the potential to devel- op as a financially and operationally viable airport and the benefits to the airport and wider region of the huge boost in passenger numbers over the past two years are very evident.”

But he stressed the urgency of ad- dressing what he described as an “uncompetitive cost base” in order to meet the business and operational needs of the airport. ““We can then begin to concentrate our efforts on ensuring we become more competi-

tive in our airport charges and our incentive schemes,” he said.

Shanahan added that “We believe we have developed a distinctive west of Ireland market both to and from the US. It is time for a concerted ef- fort by key stakeholders in the west of Ireland supported by a substantial Government tourism-marketing fund to market Shannon throughout the US. It is our aim to reach one million transatlantic passengers per annum within five years of the commence- ment of Open Skies.”

UNION and_ worker representa- tives have added their voices to the mounting demands that the Govern- ment put up money to save Shannon, in the face of the possible loss of a year-round direct link to the US. SIPTU, the largest airport union, wants the Govenment to put up cash to improve infrastructure, facilities

and to fund a major tourism market- nOTRG NW AY oe

Tony Carroll of SIPTU’s avia- tion branch said union members are “very dissapointed” that the trans- atlantic stopover is the price of the Open Skies deal.

“The proposal of a one-year lead in is too short entirely. A longer time- frame is needed to brace Shannon for the full impact of this,” he said.

Carroll added that there will need to be “substantial support” for the airport to market itself and win a slice of the lucrative US cake rather than letting visitors fly straight to Dublin.

One major concern is that even within the year long period which is intended as a lead-in to the end of the compulsory stop-over, flights might cease once the busy summer season

ends.

With airlines allowed to average out the number of Shannon flights, many associated with the airport fear that it is possible that the quota could be all allocated to summer services with no daily service in winter.

“The biggest threat is going to be that we could lose the year-round daily link with the USA. Not having direct access makes you uncompeta-

tive and unattractive as a destination for inward investment,’ said Carroll.

A spokesman for SIGNAL, the Shannon airport worker’s lobby eroup, said that it’s vital the Govern- ment move quickly.

“Now that Open Skies is definitely coming, it’s vital that the Govern- ment pull out all the stops in imple- menting the Tourism and Economic Development Plan.

THE rising tide of the Celtic Tiger has failed to raise all boats and mem- bers of the Travelling community are worse off than they were 30 years ago, according to priest and head of Respond, Pat Cogan, formerly of the Killaloe diocese.

According to Fr Cogan, who was a chaplain to Travellers in Ennis in the 1970s, public hostility towards Trav- ellers has also increased over the last number of decades.

Speaking at the launch of Respond’s new Traveller accommodation and Support policy last week, Fr Cogan

raised concerns about a low take- up of second-level education among male Travellers in Ireland.

‘There has been a great improve- ment in the general wealth in Ireland over the last decade. But this has by- passed the ‘Travelling community to a large extent. One reason is that their family size tends to be growing consistently and this can make it dif- ficult,’ said Ned Brennan, Head of Operations at Respond.

‘The main reason is the educational issue; 1f the educational system does not work for Travelling people then how can they get the skills to sell to employers and take advantage of the

Celtic Tiger?”

Respond has identified suitable Traveller accommodation as one of its main priorities for the future and has appointed a Traveller accommo- dation officer whose sole responsi- bility will be to work with Traveller organisations.

Their new policy, which has been circulated to every local authority in the country including Clare County Council, is focused on a more uni- fied approach to dealing with Travel- ler issues.

“We want to bring about a much more unified approach to Traveller support. What we are offering to lo-

cal authorities is the use of our exper- tise of the last 25 years in how best to organise a coordinated Traveller sup- port,” continued Mr Brennan.

“We would be offering to work hand in hand with the councils and all the other involved agencies. We have cir- culated our policy document around to all local authorities, a number have got back to us and we would be very hopeful that all of them will over the next few weeks.”

Life expectancy for female Travel- lers is currently 12 years less than females from the settled community, while males die on average 10 years Cre Coe

CLARE County Council will reas- sess whether it is necessary to up- gerade the county’s largest fire sta- tion to a full-time service once the Department of the Environment has completed an analysis of future fire Oo

The county’s Chief Fire Office, Adrian Kelly, has confirmed that the department are taking a risk-based approach to the provision of fire cov- Jus NO A sCom ROUAD NKR

“On the basis of this methodology, Clare County Council can reassess what is the appropriate provision for

the Fire Service in the county. Cur- rently, we have the required standard of fire cover and there has been no fault with the service being provided in the past.”

Figures released by Clare County Council’s Fire and Rescue Service have revealed that in 2006, the fire brigade in Ennis responded to 568 calls, of which 127 were chimney fires and 105 were false alarms, ac- counting for 40 per cent of all calls in the town.

Chief Kelly believes that the number of callouts for the town’s fire service could be drastically reduced if the public improved their home fire safe-

ty and if the number of bogus calls made to the service was reduced.

There have been calls in recent years for Ennis fire station to be changed from a part-time to a full- time facility.

All of Clare’s seven stations are op- erated on a retained basis where fire- fighters respond to emergencies from their homes or places of work when alerted by a paging system.

The county’s station officers, the members in charge of each station, also work on a retained basis. Ennis fire brigade, however, has a fulltime station officer.

Some, including local representa-

tives and fire-fighters, believe it is time that the county’s largest and busiest station was upgraded to a full-time service where personnel would be based on site on a 24-hour- a-day basis, ready to respond to calls at a minute’s notice.

Clare Fine Gael Deputy Pat Breen said that Ennis Fire Station staff should to be made full-time in light of the 2006 call-out figures.

Deputy Breen says it is unac- ceptable that the 15 part-time staff should have to take the responsibility of such a busy service when they did not even have full-time status.