This article is from page 30 of the 2007-07-03 edition of The Clare People. OCR mistakes are to be expected so download the original SWF or the rendered page 30 JPG
NEWLY elected Mayor of Shan- non, Councillor Sean McLoughlin (FG), anticipates a busy year for his first outing as town ambassador but is looking forward to the challenges ahead.
His first priority, after his election at the council AGM last Tuesday evening, is to begin work on getting an ambulance for use in Shannon.
“The big issue that I’ll be pushing for, as chairman of the ambulance committee, is the possibility of one of these for the town. We have none and we are looking for one of those new Emergency Response Units with trained medics in the next 12 months.”
Along with emergency services,
other plans include a tourism forum, a town boundary extension and gain- ing support for Public Service Obli- gation (PSO) for selected Shannon Airport routes.
“As we all know, there are a lot of people passing through Shannon dur- ing the tourist season but not enough staying overnight. Later on in the year, I am hoping to have some sort of tourism forum with B&B, hotel- iers and other people with a lifelong interest in tourism so we can discuss ways of encouraging visitors to stay for longer,” said Cllr McLoughlin.
It is hoped that the Government will apply to the European Commis- sion for PSOs on behalf of the air- port, which would compensate pro- viders if they provided essential but unprofitable routes such as a daily
commuter flight to Dublin.
“The airport is very important in terms of infrastucture and jobs so along with pushing for a PSO motion we are going to do everything we can to keep US flights coming into Shan- non,’ he said.
He added that a proposal to extend the Shannon boundary has been sent away for Government approval and he is optimistic that the town will soon be bigger and better.
A new green paper on local govern- ment later this year is due to suggest upgrading the status of town councils to full rateable authorities and Cllr McLoughlin said that he is “look- ing forward” to this development for Shannon.
He paid tribute to outgoing mayor, ClUlr Tony McMahon (Lab) and also
congratulated Deputy Mayor, Cllr Gerry Flynn (Ind), on his election.
Cllr McLoughlin was elected for the first time in 2004 having been heavily involved with Fine Gael for some years.
He celebrated his new appointment with wife Catherine, son Michael, daughter Marie and grandson Mat- thew among others.
He said that with the support of col- leagues and staff, he was confident facing the challenges ahead and that he would do his best for the people of Shannon.