This article is from page 16 of the 2011-10-25 edition of The Clare People. OCR mistakes are to be expected so download the original SWF or the rendered page 16 JPG
A GOVERNMENT-backed steering group to create an international hub for humanitarian aid at Shannon Airport will be put in place in the coming weeks. The Clare People understands that Labour’s Junior Minister for Foreign Affairs, Jan O’Sullivan, will appoint the top-level steering group in the coming weeks to push the creation of the international aid hub, which will act as a logistic base for aid organisation responding to major aid crisis’s around the world.
The hub is expected to create a number of jobs in the Shannon area and also work as a cornerstone for creating larger logistics-based operations in Shannon. The aid hub was a large part of the election manifesto of Clare TD Michael McNamara, who has made contact with a number of people at the United Nations in relation to the development.
“This is part of the Clare County Development Plan and I understand that Jan O’Sullivan is in the process of setting up a steering group involving all the main state operators and Clare County Council,” he said.
It is, however, unclear what form the humanitarian aid hub will take should it be granted the go ahead. Earlier this year, the Atlantic Way group officially registered the not-for-profit company ‘Global Aid Shannon’
The company was launched after a year of behind-the-scenes negotiations between Atlantic Way and a partner organisation in Jacksonville in Florida. However, it is unclear whether this private company will be used or whether a government agency will take the lead in delivering the proposed aid hub.
“If we can get the humanitarian aid hub up and running in Shannon, that will be very positive news. There is a company proposed to do that but there is no certainty that it will be a private company that will do it,” continued McNamara.
“While there is a lot of land around Shannon in private ownership, there is also a lot of land owned by Shannon Development and no decision has been made yet as to whether it would be a private company or whether existing state assets could be utilised for this. Ultimately, this has to be government driven, but whether there can be some sort of public/private partnership or not, I have an open mind.”