This article is from page 2 of the 2005-08-16 edition of The Clare People. OCR mistakes are to be expected so download the original SWF or the rendered page 2 JPG
, which formed part of Shannon De- velopment’s proposed 10 year plan from 2005 to 2015 lodged with the Minister, the company sought to develop an At- lantic Economic zone that added Galway city and county to the current area it had responsibility for.
Instead of adopting the plan, Minister Micheal Martin has withdrawn any re- maining enterprise activities operated by Shannon Development, while its tourism promotion activities may also face the chop in a government shake-up of the structures promoting Irish tourism.
In a proposed new mandate for the
company, the company will be given an enhanced, though undefined, regional economic development role with a spe- cific emphasis on addressing the needs of the less developed parts of the Shannon Korea) 0F
Unions at Shannon Development, SIP- TU and the National Union of Journal- ists (NUJ) have agreed not to co-oper- ate with changes to bring about the new rn atW NOEs Kom
In the plan put forward the Board of Shannon Development, the company states that by 2015, it will have attracted an additional two million visitors per an- num, three million passengers through Shannon and Galway airports, along with an additional 25,000 tonnes in freight per annum.
It also states that Shannon will have 40 global destinations by 2015, while output per person will be 100% of the nation- al average and there will be pervasive broadband across the region.
Other highlights of the company’s plan include an international trade centre and international casino in the Limerick/ Shannon area; an international health
clinic in Limerick and a bio-pharma project in Limerick county.
The plan also envisages the establish- ment of an agile logistics hub at Shannon and a series of Burren initiatives, along with other tourism initiatives around Clare.
The company describes its 10 year plan as “an uncompromising drive’ to make sure that the Atlantic Economic Zone 1s recognised as one of the most forward- thinking and exciting regions in the world for people, investors and visitors.
Shannon Development stated that it would use the company’s asset base – without recourse to the Exchequer – to deliver an Atlantic Development Fund of €200m (over ten years) to finance eco- nomic infrastructure, seed strategic flag- ship projects and invest in commercial activities which will replenish the fund.
On the benefits of the plan, the docu- ment states that for people, it will offer challenging work opportunities; high quality of life, global connectivity and an integrated internal transport system, world class services and excellent educa- tional institutions.