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Business chiefs gravely concerned for the future

This article is from page 17 of the 2008-10-14 edition of The Clare People. OCR mistakes are to be expected so download the original SWF or the rendered page 17 JPG

BUSINESS representatives in Shan- non and Ennis have expressed seri- ous concern for the staff at Aer Lin- gus who may lose their jobs and for the fall-out that this would cause in the region.

The President of Shannon Cham- ber of Commerce, Ian Barrett has warned that any further dilution of Aer Lingus services from Shannon could have dire consequences for trade and business activity in the re- gion.

Ian Barrett said that business had already suffered from the withdraw- al of the Shannon Heathrow service.

Barrett, who also works for Shan- non based company Avocent, said “we have noticed a significant reduc- tion in the amount of business travel and the number of Chief Executives coming through Shannon since the end of the Heathrow service’.

“We would be hoping that there would be no further reduction in services. Reports that transatlantic services are at risk are worrying. A development like that could possibly have a significant adverse affect on Foreign Direct Investment”.

“We would be hoping that Aer Lin- gus would be planning on maintain- ing or increasing their services from Shannon”, the chamber president added.

Barrett said that developments such as the new CityJet route from Shan- non to Paris were welcome, but that Heathrow remained the “centre of fey svaleel mars Aare

“If you’re in business then Hea- throw remained the main hub. The Paris route has been a positive devel- opment.”

Ennis Chamber of Commerce CEO, Rita McInerney, said that the Cham- ber “is very dissapointed with what is going on in terms of the staff who

have given so much to the company and because Shannon is bearing the brunt of these cuts.”

She added that it is “very worrying from a business prospective what is to happen to the transatlantic serv- ice.

It is so vital to the international businesses based here. The air- port has been left with such a skel- eton staff and so little back-up that if something goes wrong a service could be cancelled and that could lead to it being withdrawn down the line. The airport is doing sterling work trying to get new routes and services into Shannon and they don’t jaCeXox MMOD Ecer-T ROO TOM ODO bl omie

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