This article is from page 14 of the 2011-01-25 edition of The Clare People. OCR mistakes are to be expected so download the original SWF or the rendered page 14 JPG
SHANNON Airport would be allowed to prosper under a Labour government, but party leader Eamon Gilmore has given mixed messages to the Clare electorate on whether the former hub of the aviation world would be given its independence from the Dublin Airport Authority and fly as a stand alone airport.
“No, it’s not about being independent,” Gilmore told The Clare People on Thursday after a visit to Shannon to launch the campaign of local Labour Party candidate, Michael McNamara. “It’s about government policy on Shannon Airport.
“The Labour Party is hugely committed to the development of Shannon Airport. It is the one of the most important pieces of public infrastructure that Ireland have – a piece of public infrastructure that has been neglected by the government and neglected by Fianna Fáil.
“The first thing I did as leader of the Labour Party in 2007 was come to Shannon, because it was the very week that the announcement that Shannon-Heathrow flights were stopping and that’s why I came back to Shannon – to show Labour’s commitment to Shannon and its development.
“Shannon Airport will be able to compete with Dublin or anywhere else. That’s the policy of Labour – that will be the policy of Labour in government. Shannon needs to be able to function independently to compete with other airports and grow,” he added.
However, Mr Gilmore has stressed that Shannon being able to “function independently” doesn’t mean a change to the status which means that the DAA effectively calls the shots. “The institutional arrangements are of secondary importance,” he said in pouring cold water over any prospect that Shannon would be freed from the constraints and strictures of the DAA. “The priority is that we grow the business.
“What we believe to be more important is that we develop the business of Shannon Airport. In this country we spend far too much time looking at what structure in this and that, and who is on the board.
“The Labour Party policy in relation to Shannon is to grow the airport. The policy for Shannon Airport will be decided by government through the Minister for Transport and a Labour minister will be committed to developing Shannon,” Deputy Gilmore said.
“The Labour Party is hugely committed to the development of Shannon Airport. We need to be getting more value from Shannon Airport. Shannon Airport and the business around Shannon Airport has huge potential for growth and the Labour Party in government is committed to that.
“I believe we should be using Shannon much more inventively, to attract employment in the area to the area. We will be proactive about Shannon.
“We want a strong Shannon Airport. You have an airport of international standard in the mid west – an airport not being utilised to its maximum potential. We have to increase passenger numbers at Shannon – Labour are committed to that.
Deputy Gilmore continued, “When you have an airport – an airport with Shannon’s facilities, you have the possibility of developing other businesses around the airport. You have to maximise flight potential in and out of Shannon, but you also have to look at ways in which business can grow around the airport and in which you can use the airport to grow additional business.
“The critical thing as regards Shannon is that its business is grown – that’s the bottom line. That’s where the problem has been with Shannon. That’s what Labour is committed to. The infrastructure is there around the airport.
“The roads are there, the industrial base is there, the university (UL) is there. I come from the west of Ireland and Shannon was always the airport for the people of the west of Ireland and Labour are committed to ensuring that is so again,” Mr Gilmore added.