Month: November 2011

SHANNON’S decline as an airport of international standing has been so alarming that it’s now on the cusp of being relegated to a standing of being only Ireland’s fourth busiest airport behind Dublin, Cork and Knock as passenger freefall accelerates into 2012.

That was the damning verdict of the current state of ill-health at the former hub of the aviation world delivered by Transport Minister, Leo Varadkar, on a visit to the county on Saturday where he addressed the annual Clare Tourism Conference in the Falls Hotel, Ennistymon.

Speaking to The Clare People , Minister Varadkar spelt out Shannon’s decline in stark terms, warning that “things have to change” and that the days of governments propping up Shannon were over as he branded such a policy as “a total failure” for the airport.

“Shannon Airport should be an asset for the region and an asset for the State,” said Minister Varadkar. “It really isn’t that at the moment.

“Passengers have really fallen dramatically, which really worries me. It’s probable that Shannon will fall behind Cork in passenger numbers and maybe even fall behind Knock in the next year or so.

“That would make Shannon Ireland’s fourth airport, where as I think it should be Ireland’s second airport. Things do need to change,” added Minister Varadkar, in admitting that the airport now needs a fresh start.

“Shannon is iconic to the region,” continued Minister Varadkar. “There is a great history attached to it, being one of the first airports in the world and the Freezone and so on, but I do think that at the same time we have to be realistic and ambitious about what can achieved.

“In the past Shannon was very reliant on government protection and government support and the view was always that ‘the government should come in and force airlines to land at our airport and give us money for marketing’.

“That policy has been a total failure. Airports around the world that are successful adopt a different policy. They try to get people to fly to their airport because they want to get there and because it’s cheap to do so.

“Shannon in my view should be competing with Dublin and competing with Knock and doing so vigorously, but that can’t be done with other people’s money.

“Costs in Shannon are high. The cost base in Shannon is very high and there will have to be changes there. Shannon had a very bad experience with Ryanair where they gave Ryanair a very good deal and once that deal was coming to an end, Ryanair were happy to pull the plug and leave them high and dry. For Shannon to work and to be sustainable, it needs to have a diversity of airlines,” he added.

RATEPAYERS in both Clare and Limerick would gladly stump up the cash to help “redevelop their own airport” that would be independent of Dublin Airport Authority interference.

That’s the claim made by local Fine Gael deputy Joe Carey, as he identified hard-pressed ratepayers as a source of investment for Shannon as part of a broader vision to put the airport on a sound financial footing for the future.

As part of this radical blueprint submitted to Shannon Airport customs, Deputy Carey has said that both local and national government investment should be a pre-requisite for the future, even though Minister for Transport Leo Varadkar has revealed that “no more government money” will be pumped into the ailing airport.

“While recognising the critical financial constraints placed on government, the new entity govern- ing Shannon Airport will require Government support,” says Deputy Carey.

“The strongest expression of that support will be the putting in place of the appropriate structures. The new entity will have to be managed in a way that will in a relatively short time allow it to cover its own costs, however, in the short term it may well be that Government financial support will be necessary.

“The exchequer in the short term may well be required to contribute to both capital investment and working capital requirements. The cost here are miniscule in a national context – e.g. the necessary expenditure on the Bunratty/Latoon section of road development would keep Shannon operational for the next 30 years.

“It would not be unreasonable for any such funding requirement to be generated from a Local Government Contribution.

“This could be generated by a ringfenced contribution from the current local rate (local rate payers are cur- rently greatly burdened but I believe the ratepayers of Clare and Limerick would gladly commit a contribution to redevelop their own airport).

“In discussing the matter with local business people, I have been told that a vibrant busy airport generates up to 25 per cent extra turnover in particularly the tourism service industry.

“It is critical, in that the only way that the funding models cited can be successful is if Shannon Airport is locally owned and run,” adds Deputy Carey.

PUTTING special procedures in place to entice more military traffic through Ireland has been held up as a short-term plan to boost traffic through Shannon Airport, one submission to the consultative process being undertaken on the airport has said.

This proposal to look to US military personnel has been sounded out by Fine Gael deputy, Pat Breen, who has identified troop traffic en route and returning from Afghanistan and Iraq as having “a key role” in Shannon’s well-being, not only in the past decade, but into the future as well.

In his submission on Shannon that has been forwarded to the Booz and Company team of consultants, Deputy Breen has said that “getting additional troop carriers” through Shannon should be part of the new airport blueprint for the future, the exact details of which will be unveiled by his party colleague and Minister for Transport, Leo Varadkar, in January.

“The use of Shannon Airport by US military personnel has played a key role in sustaining the airport’s bottom line,” said Deputy Breen in his submission.

“This business has generated significant revenue for the airport particularly in commercial and catering related activities.

“Although US President Barrack Obama has signalled the early return of troops from Iraq and Afghanistan; military transit traffic is important business for Shannon Airport. “US Customs Pre Clearance should be extended to include Troop Pre Clearance. Availability of Troop Pre Clearance could attract additional troop carriers to use Shannon Airport and this additional business would assist the airport during this transitional period,” he added. Deputy Breen’s comments come in the wake of recent figures released by the US military which revealed that between 2001 and 2011 there have been 12,154 stopovers in Shannon en route to US war fronts, carrying 2,300,925 troops, while 11,995 return flights have accounted for 2,029,365 military personnel. And, additional figures secured by The Clare People have revealed that 407 commercial flights carrying military personnel have passed through the airport from January to June of this year. The 2001 to 2011 figures have revealed that the peak period of Shannon’s use in US military operations came in 2005, when 1,973 flights passed through the airport, carrying 335,847 passengers, over double the amount that had passed through the previous year. The build-up of troop maneuvers started in 2003, before and after President Bush ordered an invasion of Iraq on March 19 of that year.

GOVERNMENT funding from the sale of a key strategic asset that was inspired by the Shannon Airport story should be pumped into the development of the former transatlantic hub as it bids to chart a new future for itself from 2012.

That’s one demand thrown down by local Fine Gael TD Joe Carey to the Fine Gael-led government, with the Clarecastle representative claiming that Shannon has “intellectual” rights to millions of euros in funds from any sale of Aer Rianta International.

According to Deputy Carey, the proceeds of the sale of this key strategic State asset should be ploughed into Shannon, funds that could help clear the airport’s crippling debt as well as play for a new development programme for Clare’s international airport.

“There is a very strong feeling that the Aer Rianta International project, which was the brainchild of Shannon Management under the astute leadership of Liam Skelly, was in the first place developed with the need to generate reserves to underpin the future viability of Shannon,” says Deputy Carey in his submission to Booz and Company.

“ARI before being subsumed into the DAA was the intellectual capital of Shannon Airport. While I understand the Government may be considering the sale of ARI, the revenue from any such disposal should in the first place be ring-fenced to cover the funding of the future capital requirements of a newly structured Shannon,” he adds.

Aer Rianta International was established in 1988 on the back of Shannon Airport’s connection with Aeroflot – a connection that dated from 1973 when the Russian carrier used Shannon as a refuelling stop to support its transatlantic services between Moscow and Havana.

Aeroflot then developed its own fuel-farm at Shannon in 1980, while eight years later a joint-venture between Aer Rianta and Shannon saw the opening of Aer Rianta International’s first duty free shop in Moscow.

Aer Rianta International now operates modern retail centres at major airports in Europe, Eastern Europe, North America and the Middle East.

“It is of concern that significant funds from the ARI basket have been gifted to Dublin Airport to reduce the cost of the new terminal and yet some people tell me that ARI funds cannot be allotted to Shannon. This is clearly placing Shannon at a significant disadvantage,” adds Deputy Carey in calling for a change in government and DAA policy.

SHANNON Airport losses over the past three years could be as high as € 25m but, according to one government TD in Clare, the airport should not be required to turn a profit to justify its existence.

Labour’s Michael McNamara has told the team of consultants hired by the Government to map out a new future for the airport that it should not be about profit, but instead maintaining mid-west’s key piece of infrastructure.

“The airport should not be required to make a profit, although this would be a bonus,” says Deputy McMamara in his submission to the team of consultants.

“If a government subvention is required to maintain a publiclyowned airport, then so be it,” he adds in the wake of a meeting with the consultants in the company of Jan O’Sullivan, Minister of State for Foreign Affairs.

This is despite the fact that Minister for Transport, Leo Varadkar has said “there aren’t subsidies available for the airport, there wasn’t during the boom and there certainly isn’t now”, while Shannon Airport Authority chairman Brian O’Connell has said “it is not sustainable for any business to continue in a loss-making mode”.

“Shannon Airport should remain in state ownership and control in one form or another. Possible synergies with state undertakings par- ticularly those which manage key regional transport infrastructures, should be considered,” says Deputy McNamara. “Shannon should be viewed as a key piece of infrastructure in the mid-west like railways and motorways. “I expressed the strong view that marketing the airport and the region needs to be improved to that end,” he adds.

SHANNON Airport would not be viable entity if its split from the Dublin Airport Authority, given its independence and forced to compete openly with Dublin and Cork for business.

This warning has been handed down by Fianna Fáil transport spokesperson Timmy Dooley in his submission to Booz and Company, which is set to deliver a report to government on the airport’s future by the end of the year. In the submission, secured by The Clare People this week, Deputy Dooley says it would be “unwise to consider changes to the ownership and management of the airport without having regard for the depressed state of the world economy”. Instead, Fianna Fáil, whose State Airport Act of 2004 sought to establish Dublin, Cork and Shannon as three separate competing state airports, has proposed the establishment of a new state company to have overall responsibility for the three airports.

“This company would operate as an umbrella structure similar to the CIE model and would ensure that a fair and competitive environment existed in which the three state airports could survive,” says Deputy Dooley.

“This company would be a state owned company with shares vested under the control of the Minister for Transport. A board of directors would be appointed by the Minister to give effect to such a mandate.

“Fianna Fáil suggests that separate trading entities be established at each individual airport and a clear memorandum of understanding be established between the Irish Airport Authority and the individual airport entities at Dublin, Cork and Shannon.

“Each individual trading company would be responsible for the management of the airport facility at the respective locations. Each company would have a separate board appointed by the minister and the shares vested under the control of the Minister for Transport.

“The mandate of these entities would focus on the necessity to provide vital connectivity to support and promote passenger access and cargo facilities to the respective regions having regard to long-term sustainability of the individual airports.

“It is recognised that a significant land bank asset exists at all three airports and it should be the responsibility of the respective trading companies to formulate plans for their development in consultation with local and regional State agencies and authorities,” Deputy Dooley’s submission adds.

SHANNON Airport will not be privatised by way of a radical plan for the State to enter into a lease arrangement with local business interests for a period of between 15 and 35 years.

That’s the message that has been delivered by Clare’s four members of Dáil Éireann this week ahead of this Thursday’s deadline for submissions to the team of consultants hired by the Government to engage with stakeholders in Shannon ahead of a New Year announcement on the airport’s future. The Clare People can reveal that none of the TDs have come out and supported the controversial privatisation plan, which was part of the submission made by Shannon Airport Authority chairman, Brian O’Connell, to Minister for Transport, Leo Varadkar in August.

The privatisation plan was rubbished by deputies Timmy Dooley (FF) and Michael Michael McNamara (Lab) as early as last September, and now Fine Gael TDs, Pat Breen and Joe Carey have followed suit and railed against the move that would see Shannon taken out of State hands for the first time in its 75-year history.

Instead, all four TDs are now back ing a move to make Shannon inde- pendent of Dublin Airport Authority control, while remaining firmly under government control as a key strategic State asset.

“The airport must be independent,” said Deputy Joe Carey in his submission to the Booz and Company team of consultants.

“Setting up an independent Shannon Airport Authority is the most desirable option for the future success of our airport.

“I am not saying independent of State ownership. State Ownership is critical to the well being of Shannon Airport.

“I advocate this enhancement of ownership to broaden the empower- ment and responsibility of the local community with a view to strengthening the local support for the Airport,” added Deputy Carey.

“I believe that it is important that the Airport remains under state ownership,” says Deputy Pat Breen. “To support the Airport’s efforts to return to growth under State ownership a review of our national aviation policy should be undertaken to strengthen that role.

“The governance and management structures of Shannon, will have to be changed to give greater local control for operations, financial and business developments. Shannon Airport can not be left paralysed as it has been by the previous administration,” adds Deputy Breen.

These comments have been echoed by Fianna Fáil transport spokesperson Timmy Dooley, whose has stated in his submission that he was “opposed to any privitisation of any of the State airports or part privitisation or concession agreements or long lease arrangements with whom so ever”.

In rubbishing the privatization plans, Labour’s Michael McNamara has said that “I hope that we don’t ever see the situation whereby there is a short-term effort to turn a buck at Shannon to the detriment of the longterm development of the region”.

THE first stage of a local campaign for better services in Doolin will be kicked off this Thursday when a public meeting takes place at the Russell Centre in the village.

Concern that Doolin is being left behind when compared to other areas across the county when it comes to essential services has prompted what has been advertised as a Community Meeting.

The meeting has its origins in a meeting of Doolin Tourism, which recently hosted its annual general meeting were concerns were raise about the need for radical improvements to the local infrastructure.

“Issues arose at the meeting around – issues like roads, sewerage and lighting and signage,” a spokesperson for the Community Meeting told The Clare People .

“There is a feeling some services in Doolin are inadequate. Some work has been done but a lot more needs to be done There is a new sewerage system in Lisdoonvarna, but people want that extended to Doolin.

“When those issues were raised it was decided that we would take these issues to the local community as a whole and organised a public meeting so that people can come and air their views about what they feel should be done for Doolin, This is the first step in that process,” the spokesperson added.

The meeting gets underway at 9pm.

THE make up of boards of management in a number of secondary schools across Clare could be altered under new proposals from the Department of Education and Skills.

Under the new Education and Training Bill (2011), which will see Clare VEC merge with Limerick City VEC and Limerick County VEC, any nominees must reside within the “locality of the Board of Management”.

CEO, George O’Callaghan told the November meeting of Clare VEC that it is Minster Ruairí Quinn’s view that VEC nominees would have to live in the parish where the school is located.

“The minister has very clear views on board members travelling from one side of the county to the other,” he said.

Clare VEC is involved in seven post primary schools – Ennis Community College, Ennistymon Vocational School, Kildysart Community College, Kilkee Community College, Killaloe Community College, Kilmihil Vocational School and Scariff Community College.

In a report on the new Education and Training Bill (2011), Mr O’Callaghan explained that “The main objectives of the bill relate to local delivery and co-ordination of education and training and provides for the establishment of new education and training boards.”

He told the meeting that the greater Limerick area had been designated as the headquarters for the new ETB.

Mr O’Callaghan also outlined the composition of the education and training boards (ETBs).

Each ETB Board will consist of 18 members comprised of: 10 people elected by the local authority or local authorities as appropriate in the proportions specified by the minister; two people nominated by each national association of parents; two people who are members of staff and elected by members of staff; four people nominated by bodies specified for this purpose by the minister having a special interest in or knowledge relating to education and training.

Mr O’Callaghan told the meeting that the VEC representative body, the Irish Vocational Education Association (IVEA), has recommended that 15 places be allocated for councillors to represent Clare, Limerick City and Limerick County.

Responding to a question from Committee Chairman, Cllr Tommy Brennan (Ind), Mr O’Callaghan said that discussions have taken place regarding the future arrangement of the IVEA.

Cllr Brennan was critical of the role of the IVEA, saying it had not done enough to represent the interest of Clare VEC. He said, “In my opinion, they sold us out.”

According to Mr O’Callaghan’s report, the Bill provides “for the recruitment, suspension and dismissal of staff”.

It also provides for the “transfer of former VEC staff to the ETB and/ or redeployment to another ETB or public service body”.

DISCUSSION on plans to develop an independent all Irish secondary school in Ennis is likely to be shelved until 2014, a meeting has heard.

A proposal to develop a new independent Gaelcholáiste has been debated by Clare VEC. Gaelcholáiste an Chláir, which is currently located in the grounds of Ennis Community College, is set to benefit from a proposed new school building project.

However a proposal to delay further discussion on a proposed independent building was adopted at the November meeting of Clare VEC.

CEO George O’Callaghan told the meeting that if Clare VEC supported a proposal to develop an independent Gaelcholáiste, then the issue of school patronage would be up for competition.

He said the Department of Education and Skills had informed Clare VEC that the development of schools on new greenfield sites would initiate a competition for patronage.

Mr O’Callaghan said that it “would be in the best interest” of Clare VEC to pursue the building of the new schools extension in Ennis. He proposed that further discussion of the matter be proposed until after the extension is built. His proposal was formally seconded by the committee.

In October it was confirmed that Clare VEC will receive grant funding to carry out the works at Ennis Community College and St Anne’s Community College, Killaloe. Works will also be carried out at a school in Shannon.

A Department of Education report had predicted that enrolment at Ennis Community College would rise to 740 students in the near future, while enrolment at St Anne’s is expected to increase to 750.

There are currently 500 students enrolled at Ennis Community College. Mr O’Callaghan has previously said that the building would also alleviate pressure on Gaelcholáiste an Chláir, an Aonad that currently operates within Ennis Community College.

Clare VEC will receive a devolved grant for the projects – a 2813sq/m extension in Ennis and a 1800sq/m extension in Killaloe. Work on the Ennis project is expected to be completed by 2014.

The majority of respondents (69 per cent) to a survey conducted by Clare VEC agreed or strongly agreed that Gaelcholáiste an Chláir should move to its own campus.

The survey was carried out to assess demand for second level education through Irish in Clare.

The survey findings indicated that 88 per cent of the 854 respondents agreed or strongly agreed that Irish medium education should be available at second level.

28 per cent agreed or strongly agreed that Gaelcholáiste an Chláir should have independent status while remaining on the campus of Ennis Community College. 26 per cent agreed or strongly agreed that it should stay as it is.

The survey found that the school is estimated to grow from its current enrolment of 137 to 208 students in 2019, expanding to 242 in 2020.