This article is from page 1 of the 2011-06-14 edition of The Clare People. OCR mistakes are to be expected so download the original SWF or the rendered page 1 JPG
IT’S GOOD news at last for Clare on the jobs front with confirmation that the county is to be the European base for a massive logistics hub designed to deliver humanitarian aid all over the world from Shannon Airport.
Thousands of jobs could be created, both directly and indirectly, at Shannon and across the county in the coming years as a result a major reinvention of the way business in done at the airport. The Clare People has learned that the ‘Global Aid Shannon’ organisation will be officially listed with the Company Registrations Office in Dublin this week and could be up and running in Shannon before the end of 2012.
The not-for-profit company has been formed by the Atlantic Way group and will create a global centre for the delivery of humanitarian aid in Shannon, while a sister project is also progressing in Jacksonville in Florida.
Atlantic Way have been holding top level meetings all over the world for more than a year and have also received commitments from both Irish and US authorities, major industry players, the EU and the United Nations about the project.
Talks on creating a similar sister- project for cargo shipment and logistics between Shannon and Florida are also well advanced as are plans to strengthen the tourism connections between the two areas.
“This project has involved a lot of astute political footwork not just here in Ireland but also at the EU level and in the US and at the UN.
“We have been working on a number of levels to get this venture going which would utalise all the strategic strengths of Shannon, such as its very large airport system,” said Brian Byrne of Atlantic Way.