This article is from page 20 of the 2011-02-22 edition of The Clare People. OCR mistakes are to be expected so download the original SWF or the rendered page 20 JPG
A GENERAL Election in Clare would not be the same if Shannon Airport wasn’t one of the biggest burners of the day. Indeed, it’s doubtful if there’s been an election campaign this past 30 years without the airport’s future being up for discussion.
“The rights of Shannon have always been protected under Fianna Fáil governments, no matter what the circumstances,” said Charles Haughey during the 1987 election campaign.
“There were often threats from different quarters, but we always stood by Shannon. As long as there is a Fianna Fáil government in office, the future of Shannon is assured. Fianna Fáil and Shannon are synonymous with national progress and will be for a long time to come,” Haughey added.
Those words must haunt Fianna Fáil now, because Shannon has been grievously wronged by Fianna Fáil governments, from the abolition of the Shannon Stopover in 1993 onwards.
The current state of ill-health with the airport was graphically illustrated recently when a survey of 300 airports revealed that passenger numbers at Shannon dipped by 37.2 per cent in 2010 – the biggest drop in Europe.
Yes, it’s crisis time for Shannon. The potential to develop the airport is still there, but this past generation it has gone un-tapped. The incoming government has to act because the survival of Shannon is at stake.
Fianna Fáil has failed miserably to live up to Charles Haughey’s words failed to such an extent that the party has no representation on Shannon Town Council.
Fine Gael and Labour have made soundings about making Shannon “great again”. But is the political will there? Is the will there to give fair treatment to an airport that has been under the thumb of Dublin for many years.
Independence for Shannon Airport is one way.
A new Irish Airport Authority, where Dublin, Shannon and Cork are equal partners, ensuring Dublin doesn’t have the whip hand on Clare, is another way.
Handing over Shannon to Michael O’Leary and giving him incentives to make the airport is hub of operations is another way.
One thing is certain – something has to be done and done fast.
Or else the hares John Dillon talked about back in the 1940s will be on their way. The tumbleweed Michael O’Leary talked about too.