This article is from page 19 of the 2011-02-15 edition of The Clare People. OCR mistakes are to be expected so download the original SWF or the rendered page 19 JPG
CLARE County Council is to write to the President of the America, Barack Obama, officially inviting him to visit the county and use Shannon Airport in the coming months.
The motion, which was put forward by Cllr James Breen (Ind), came about following a discussion on the future commitments of Aer Lingus to Shannon Airport. On the foot of the motion the local authority will now write to President Obama, officially inviting him to visit Clare.
While Massachusetts Congressman Richard Neal confirmed last year the US President would pay a visit to Ireland during his first term in office no official confirmation has come from the White House.
It is also unclear what impact, if any, the invitation from Clare County Council will have on shaping the possible itinerary that the US Presi- dent would have on the proposed state visit.
The invitation arose following a motion on Shannon Airport put forward by Cllr PJ Ryan (Ind).
According to Cllr Ryan, the decision by Aer Lingus not to operate a transatlantic service into Shannon Airport at certain times of the years is having a negative impact on tourism in the county, especially around St Patrick’s Day.
“This council needs to make representations to Aer Lingus to establish their long-term commitment to Shannon Airport in view of the fact that they have suspended their transatlantic flights for the early part of 2011, which includes the St Patrick’s Day period,” he said.
“I feel that this situation need to be highlighted. Our former national airline has taken it upon itself to discontinue service into Shannon for the early months of the year. This is unbecoming of a company which is still party owned by the State. Aer Lingus’ commitment to Shannon is very poor and we would like to know what there plans are for the airport in the coming years.”
According to Shannon-based Cllr Patricia McCarthy (Ind), the loss of the year-round transatlantic services is doing long-term damage to the region.
“This is not just doing damage to the airport, it is damaging all the businesses in the area,” she said.
“This is doing long-term damage to the airport when the so called national carried is just coming in during the summer months and cherry picking during the busy months.”
Speaking on the motion, Cllr Johnny Flynn (FG) said that Shannon Airport must feel like the “jilted partner” as a result of Aer Lingus’ new found affection for Dublin Airport and Terminal 2.