This article is from page 9 of the 2012-01-03 edition of The Clare People. OCR mistakes are to be expected so download the original SWF or the rendered page 9 JPG
STATE Papers for 1981 that have been released under the 30-year rule have revealed how Shannon was plunged into the international limelight for all the wrong reasons, thanks to an entrepreneur who established a business in the Free Zone.
On May 2, 1981, it was revealed that the man, who hijacked an Aer Lingus flight to Heathrow because he wanted to know the Third Secret of Fatima, was Laurence Downey, a man who operated out of Shannon, touting himself as an international entrepreneur who would bring hundreds of jobs to mid-west region.
Downey – a former Cistercian monk, Olympic boxing trialist, sailor and Shannon Free Zone-based company director – came to Shannon in late 1979 and unveiled ambitious plans to develop among other things an Institute of Learning, a Shannon Co-Operative and a £10 million sports and recreational complex.
However, Downey’s plans for Shannon were too good to be true – he had a string of dodgy business dealings in his native Australia, among them the disappearance of £40,000 from a trust fund.
Downey then re-emerged into the limelight when he walked into the cockpit of an Aer Lingus flight, threatening to cause an explosion by setting fire to his petrol-soaked clothes, unless he was taken to Teheran and that the Third Secret of Fatima be released by Pope John Paul II and published in Irish newspapers.
Captain Foyle suggested that they fly to Le Touquet because of a shortage of fuel, with the captain announcing, “Ladies and gentlemen, we would like to land in London but there is a man in the cabin who wants us to go on to Le Touquet.”
The end of the highjack ordeal for the 108 passengers and crew of five came at Le Touquet when crack French commando forces moved in and stormed the plane when it was on the runway. Downey was arrested while passengers spoke about the drama. “He must have been very dis- turbed,” said one passenger. “I asked the stewardess if we were being hijacked and she said yes,” commented another. “It wasn’t scary because we knew almost from the start that he wasn’t from a terrorist organisation. He said something about wanting to tell people in Ireland that the Virgin Mary had a sister and that there were two of them.”