This article is from page 10 of the 2009-08-11 edition of The Clare People. OCR mistakes are to be expected so download the original SWF or the rendered page 10 JPG
HAPPY US-bound passengers trav- elling to Philadelphia, Newark and JFK airports were celebrating being the first to travel to the US from Eu- rope without having to face further customs checks State-side.
“This will save me hours,” said Robyn Shephard as she boarded her New York flight.
Robyn was on holiday this time, but comes to Ireland regularly on busi- ness. “Ill be coming through Shan- non from now on,” she said.
US Ambassador to Ireland, Dan Rooney, who was in Shannon to see the US Border Protection and Cus- toms Preclearance facility in opera- tion for the first time last week, said, “The facilities are just outstanding. I think what it will do 1s it will get peo- ple to come here. The United States has always had a great relationship with Shannon Airport. It is very easy now to come to Shannon. Mainly it will help the passengers – they can come from all over, get here and get on with it.”
Airport Director Martin Moroney said that the service will open up very significant opportunities for business development over the years for Shannon.
“This is an historic day for our airport and, indeed, a milestone mo- ment in Irish-US relations. Shannon is the first airport in Ireland to have these facilities in place, and repre- sents a major upgrade of the pre-in- spection which commenced in 1986.
It is a very proud moment for us and we look forward to maximising this opportunity in the years ahead,’ he Sr nLe
Shannon Airport Chairman, Pat Shanahan paid tribute to all involved in getting the service up and run- ning. “A lot of effort has gone into the establishment of this service and we are indebted to the Minister for Transport, Noel Dempsey and his officials for all they have done, as well as their counterparts in the US Homeland Security Department and our team, of course, at Shannon Air- port.”
Mayor of Clare, Tony Mulcahy has described the opening of the services as “a landmark development for the County Clare hub and the mid-west region.”
The Shannon councillor said that the delivery of the new facilities underlined the resilience of the mid- west region and the argument for a fully independent Shannon Airport Authority.
But concerns were raised this week in an Oireachtas debate that Shannon may be put at a disadvantage when Dublin Airport opens its own facility at the end of 2010.
Charges for use of the facility are €10 per passenger. Deputy Pat Breen said that it is “farcical” that the Dub- lin Airport Authority is the body set- ting the charges for Shannon “in the full knowledge that its charges will be much lower,” he said.