This article is from page 14 of the 2012-02-21 edition of The Clare People. OCR mistakes are to be expected so download the original SWF or the rendered page 14 JPG
COUNTY councillors from Limerick City, Limerick County and Tipperary may look to have a position on the board of the Shannon Airport Authority (SAA) if it is decoupled from the Dublin Airport Authority (DAA) later this year.
With details of the Booz Report into the future of Shannon Airport yet to be officially made public, it is widely expected that some Clare organisations will be given a role to play in planning the future of the airport.
Last year, Clare County Council made a submission to the Booz Re port suggesting a role for the local authority on the board of the future Shannon Airport Authority.
Given the central role that the airport has in future plans for the region, as set out in the Mid West Regional Authority Factfile which was published in Ennistymon last Friday, it is also now likely that representatives from Limerick and Tipperary may also look for a place on the board.
“Shannon Airport is the single most important piece of transport infrastructure that we have in this region. Everyone has a stake in it and everyone, whether they be from Limerick, Clare or Tipperary, would be concerned about the declining passenger numbers,” said Limerick City Councillor, Joe Leddin (LAB).
“There are challenges there but there are opportunities as well. If the motorway to Galway was completed, you would have a motorway linking Shannon to Galway and, with the subsidies ended for Galway Airport, I think that people in that area will consider using Shannon instead of Dublin or Galway airports.
“I wouldn’t get too hung up on who should or should not be on the new board, the Minister for Transport will decide that. My focus as chairman of the Mid West Regional Authority is to take a more macro approach to this because the airport does affect the entire region.
“I say, put the best calibre of people on that board and let them drive it. It is about driving the airport for the region and, as long as that is the approach taken by the new board, I don’t care who will sit on it.
“I also believe that it must be separated from the DAA debt-free. For any new board to go in there and take that airport by the scruff of the neck, ad drive it both in terms of domestic traffic and tourism and trade, they need to go into this debt-free. It has to be written off or at least written down.”