This article is from page 14 of the 2007-03-06 edition of The Clare People. OCR mistakes are to be expected so download the original SWF or the rendered page 14 JPG
TOURISM bodies in the mid-west and Shannon airport management must “get their act together” in the aftermath of the end of the Shannon Stopover.
That was the message delivered by Transport Minister Martin Cullen (FF) yesterday, who said an urgent marketing strategy is required. He promised Government support for Shannon.
“Is there a fu- ture there for Shannon? Abso- lutely. People in the mid-west have to get their act to- gether,” he said.
He dispelled
suggestions from opposition politi- COE TeNsmanet-| mp usseele) Vc ing the stopover was akin to re- moving “a piece of infrastructure’ from the mid- west.
“l’m spending billions to ensure infrastructure remains in place in Clare,’ he said.
He said that while the Open Skies deal was being negotiated over the past few years, Shannon may have “held back” and remained in a “‘com- fort zone”’.
“Twenty-two different gatewaus in the States have expressed inter- est in having a connection with Ire- land. Not all of them will develop, but some of them will. Competition
for Shannon is not necessarily from Dublin. Shannon’s competition 1s other airports in the UK and Eu- rope,” he said.
“One only has to see Knock de- veloping new routes going into the States, and it hasn’t the population base that Shannon has. Shannon is very sustainable,’ he said.
‘This debate is over. The sooner we accept that, the better,” he said.
Clare Fianna Fail TD Tony Killeen
said it was obvious for a number of years that the end of the stopover was “imevitable”’.
Je CRS Hem aet-dmcybelee it was first mooted, major progress has been made on various tour- ism projects in the mid-west.
‘There is no rea- son why Shannon can’t get some of them (22 Ameri-
can gateways). Shannon is in a much better position than it was in the late 80s/early 90s,” he said.
He said he did not believe the tim- ing of last Friday’s agreement was hugely significant, in the face of the imminent general election.
“T think it is good timing to tell the people what the situation is, surely. In terms of timing, I think it 1s per- fectly alright to tell people now be- fore the election,’ he said.