This article is from page 2 of the 2008-03-18 edition of The Clare People. OCR mistakes are to be expected so download the original SWF or the rendered page 2 JPG
in response to a Freedom of Information request to the Depart- ment of Arts, Sport and Tourism.
In an internal department memo of November 2006, a senior official cautioned against State financial aid for Shannon.
“Any plan will have to take into ac- count the full implications of the new
State aid guidelines for regional air- ports. The EU Commission is already scrutinised existing arrangements in Shannon and it is not clear what the outcome of that scrutiny will be,” the official wrote.
“In the meantime, caution 1S fe- quired in relation to the articulation of any public commitments of sup- port to Shannon.”
In a separate email from a senior department official to Failte Ireland in March, 2007, the official states, “One key issue is marketing and airports. There are State guidelines on this. There are Commission en- quiries in relation to Shannon. It is
important that both agencies make it clear that they are not in the busi- ness of marketing airports. They are in the business of exploiting the marketing opportunities that access routes present.”
In the same email the official states, “The new aviation environment, in- cluding the advent of ‘open skies’, presents tremendous opportunities for Shannon airport provided it can break out of its old dependency men- tality, focus on the opportunities and provide the level of economic and ef- ficient service required by both con- sumers and airlines.
“In particular, the airport will need
to look beyond the north Atlantic and look at the opportunities presented by routes to Britain and mainland Europe.
The same official in a separate memo states, “From a tourism per- spective, there is little point in mak- ing a special marketing push in re- lation to an area unless the requisite tourism product is there and at the right quality.
“Tt 18 essential that, in addition to new product development, problems in connection with traditional tour- ism products be resolved .. . It is im- portant to understand that marketing alone will not do the job.”