Month: February 2014

FURTHER evidence that Shannon Airport is on the right flight-path to recovery was released over the weekend with the news that the airport recorded a promising increase in the number of flight movements coming through Shannon in January.

This increase is more impressive when the effects of the recent storms are considered. Shannon Airport itself has been forced to close on a number of occasions in recent weeks and a number of flights destined to arrive at Shannon Airport were also cancelled because of difficulties at other airports.

Shannon Airport recorded an average total of 38 daily movements in January of 2014 compared to the same month in 2013. This amounts to a year-on-year increase of more than 3.2 per cent.

Ireland’s en-route traffic, which means the total flights that pass through Irish airspace but do not land, decreased by 9.2 per cent in January. This decrease has been blamed mostly on the poor weather and, if a similar sized decrease was felt at Shannon Airport, it means that real flights must have shown a sizable increase to off set the effects of the poor weather.

This is in stark contrast to the number of daily movements recorded for January of 2013, which were the lowest recorded at Shannon Airport for more then a decade. These drop, which coincides with the air- port’s first month of independence from the Dublin Airport Authority, represents a 10.7 per cent year-onyear drop on the flight number from January of 2012.

“Continued strong performance in our terminal business is very encouraging. Recent announcements by a number of airlines suggests growth will continue for the remainder of the year,” said Peter Kearney, Director of Air Traffic Operations and Strategy at the Irish Aviation Authority.

SHANNON Airport has stepped up to the mark as a key economic driver for the mid-west region, according to Transport Minister, Leo Varadkar, who has told The Clare People that Donald Trump’s acquisition of Doonbeg Golf Club was made possible by having an international airport on its doorstep.

Speaking in Shannon Minister Varadkar lauded the “the renewed energy and vibrancy” as a new growth phase was announced for airport services that will see a new programme of hangar development come on stream in the next year.

“It is fair to say that recent high profile investments in this region like the Regeneron announcement for Limerick and Donald Trump’s acquisition of and planned investment in Doonbeg would not be happening were it not for Shannon Airport’s presence,” said Minister Varadkar.

His comments came as a new deal was signed for an eight-year lease by Air Contractors, a member of the ASL Aviation group, with the Shannon Group for the remaining hangar space at the airport.

This will be used by Air Contrac- tors for line maintenance on its fleet of Boeing and ATR aircraft, including its Boeing 757 aircrafts which will be flown by Aer Lingus on the new daily Shannon-Boston service launched last week and its six times weekly JFK New York service that commences in March.

The airport currently has 50,700sq meters of space in nine hangars, all of which will be fully occupied following the signing of contracts with Air Contractors.

To meet a current request for near term additional hangar space, the board of the Shannon Group recently agreed to seek planning permission and to tender for the procurement and associated works of a fabric hangar of 4,300sq metres capable of accommodating wide-bodied aircraft.

It is anticipated the new hangar – intended to be the first of a number of new hangars developed at Shannon – will be built and open for business by the end of the year.

“I welcome the board’s progress in relation to hangar capacity and its plans to develop an additional hangar this year,” said Minister Varadkar.

“This is in keeping with the wider plans for growth at Shannon, includ- ing the development of an International Aviation Services Centre here to complement the existing cluster of 40 aviation related businesses operating in Shannon.

“The development of maintenance facilities is one opportunity identified under this plan and this is a very positive first step in that space,” he added.

According to Shannon Group chairperson, Rose Hynes, the airport is “making strong early progress in relation to the wider Shannon project. Our success in achieving full occupancy of our hangar capacity is evidence of this”.

SHANNON Airport’s return of profit and passenger growth in a little over a year since it was granted its independence from the Dublin Airport Authority has been hailed as “very impressive” by the Minister for Transport, Leo Varadakar.

On what as his first visit to the airport since it became an independent entity on December 31, 2012, Minister Varadkar told The Clare People that the upsurge in the fortunes of Clare’s international airport has “certainly validated the Government decision” to let Shannon chart its own future.

“To be brutally honest as minister, I didn’t think the airport would manage a profit in year one, I thought it would take three years for that to happen. That is one of the areas where we are ahead of schedule,” said Minister Varadkar.

“It has been a very impressive first year for Shannon Airport and the performance has certainly validated the Government’s decision to give the airport its independence. The financial position of the airport is very strong and last year was about stabilisation and making a reality of a merger and this year is about growth,” he added.

In its first year full year of independence Shannon reversed five years of successive passenger decline by recording a marginal increase in numbers on 2012 to just over 1.4m passengers.

Chief executive of the Shannon Group, Neil Pakey said the airport is projecting double digit percentage passenger growth this year based mainly on increased Ryanair services and increases services on transatlantic routes.

“During the last six months, we have been successful in securing new capacity and have to make sure the marketing is right and we are hopefully looking at double digit-plus growth,” he said.

“The airport has paid its own way since separation,” confirmed Shannon Group chairperson, Rose Hynes. “We are able to present him [Minister Varadkar] with a really positive report card on the airport’s first year as an independent entity. We have very strong momentum at Shannon, and the passenger growth, in particular, has been hugely satisfying.

Commenting on the return to profit, Minister Varadkar said it means that “the airport is a stronger position to invest and do things. If you are making losses, you are eating into your reserves”.

“Our priority in 2013 was to stabilise the position at the airport, stem the five-year decline in passenger numbers and increase connectivity,” continued Ms Hynes. “We are in passenger growth mode now and this will continue in 2014 and we will continue to make progress in the creation of an international aviation services centre in Shannon,” she added.

NORTH Clare farmers have pledged to fight on against the decision to sell the Ennistymon Mart to Aldi following a “fruitless” meeting in Ennis yesterday.

Three member of Ennistymon IFA met with representatives from Clare Marts for a number of hours yesterday, at a meeting facilitated by Clare IFA president Andrew Dundas.

At the meeting, a spokesperson for Clare Marts confirmed that the sale of the mart had been agreed by the board of Clare Marts, but said that contracts had yet to be signed and the sale was dependent on planning permission being granted.

Tom Clair from Ennistymon IFA said yesterday that the people of Ennistymon feel like they have been “sold-out” by their fellow farmers for a “few dollars” from a multi-national.

“The people up here will fight this to the bitter end, that is for sure. But we are desperate downhearted that this has happened,” he said.

“The way that this has come about is not right.

“After all that was gone through to get that mart there in the first place and now to have it sold out from under us by our fellow farmers. And just because they had a few dollars dangled down in front of them. It’s not right.”

Yesterday’s meeting followed a protest help by more than 20 North Clare farmers outside of Ennis Marts last Tuesday evening and a mass meeting of more than 450 people which took place in Ennistymon earlier this month.

Those opposed to the sale will now likely take to the planning system to try and block the sale going through by lodging planning applications once Aldi bring forward a proposal.

The land where the mart currently sits was gifted to the people of Ennistymon by the McNamara clan as an area for fairs.

“It is though that the mart’s deeds could yet contain a condition requiring it to be operated for agricultural purposes. The Clare People contacted Clare Marts in relation to this story but they had no comment to make.

SHANNON-based mining company Mincon could be set to double in size over the next two or three years – with the prospect of more jobs coming on stream in looking increasingly possibly. That is according to Mincon’s “house brokers” Davy Stockbrokers, who in a letter to potential investors last week described the Clare company as ‘outperform’ and said it was primed for expansion.

“It has grown rapidly in recent years, while generating returns of over 20 per cent,” the Davy note said. “[The company is] a pure play on the structurally less volatile global consumable rock-drilling products industry.”

Earlier this year, the company’s two biggest shareholders gave employees € 1.2 million from their own private funds to reward them for their hard work over the years.

Company founder Paddy Purcell and Kevin Barry initiated the employee recognition plan, which excluded all members of senior management.

The money was paid to Mincon’s 140 eligible employees across the group and was based on years of service with a payment of € 1,000 per staff member per year of service.

The Shannon-based rock drilling engineering company was founded in 1977 and listed on the Dublin and London stock exchanges late last year. Many of the company’s Shannon-based employees have been there for a number of decades.

“It is a testament to the hard work and dedication of the Mincon Group employees that it has grown from its origins in Shannon into the interna- tional business it is today, with operations in Europe, Africa, the Americas and Australasia and with its securities quoted on the ESM and AIM,” said Paddy Purcell at the time that the payment was announced.

“As the largest shareholders in the company, Kevin and I wished to take this opportunity to show, in a tangible and meaningful way, our appreciation to the staff for their contribution in bringing Mincon to where it is today and positioning it for the next phase of its development organically and through acquisitions.”

IRELAND’S oldest living person, Clare native Kathleen Snavely, celebrated her 112th birthday on Sunday by relaxing and getting her hair done.

Kathleen Hayes Rollins Snavely, who was born in East Clare on February 16, 1902, became Ireland’s oldest ever living person late last year when she overtook Louth woman, Katherine Plunket, and is now clos- ing in on becoming one of the oldest people ever to live on planet Earth.

Kathleen, who lives in Syracuse in upstate New York, is currently in excellent health and is now just three years from becoming one of the 10 oldest people ever to have lived. She is, however, still a long from becoming the worlds oldest person – that honour rests with Jeanne Calment, who was 122 years and 164 days old when she passed away in 1997.

Kathleen was born in Maghera near Feakle in East Clare in 1902. She emigrated to America in 1921 and set up a successful dairy, completely from scratch.

Up to two years ago, Kathleen was living independently, travelling on the bus and shopping for food, until she broke her hip and had to move into a local care centre.

Sr Kathy Osbelt, a friend of Kathleen’s, says that Snavely regularly talks about her experiences growing up in Ireland and her family.

“She talks about the wit and the appreciation for natural beauty. She is very funny and very feisty and loves a good story and to tell stories,” said Sr Osbelt.

“It is unfortunate that more people don’t know her. She is a treasure; she really is a peach.”

So far Kathleen has lived through two wars and survived 18 American presidents and two husbands. She never had any children.

Kathleen received a letter from President Michael D. Higgins last year and the centenarian bounty of € 2, 540.

A YOUNG family lost not just the roof of their home but a lifetime of memories and numerous precious objects when storm Darwin took the roof from their house and destroyed their home in Rehy East, Cross.

The Abel-Cahill family are now staying in a house in Kilkee, as each day more of the ceiling disappears and cracks appear on the family home.

Mother-of-two Kim Abel is thankful however that her young family escaped physically unharmed.

“I am glad I had my daughter in the living room with me at the time of the storm, because if she was in her room napping she would have been covered in glass because the sky light came right in,” she said.

Terrorised Kim was at home with her six-month-old baby daughter Kaylana when the storm took hold at lunchtime on Wednesday.

Kim recalled how a tree and debris fell outside narrowly missing her car as the gale became stronger. The house began to shake and she began to panic.

The young mother screamed for her partner’s mother, Anna Cahill, who was on the other side of the bungalow building and then ran into another room to be with her.

“I was on the other side of the house with my mother-in-law when I saw something crash on the ground. It was the roof from the other side of the house, where I had just left,” she said fighting back the tears.

The two women decided to grab the baby and run for the car in an attempt to drive away from the house. Ms Abel’s partner, Paul Cahill, has just arrived home grabbed the two pet dogs and joined the evacuation.

Ms Abel’s other daughter Chloe (5) was still in school just a few miles away.

The devastation of the house came at the worst time for the family as they have planned baby Kaylana’s Christening for this weekend, and family and friends from as far away as Wales and England are to gather in West Clare for the special family occasion.

“We have lost everything we had in the house. Everything in the attic is destroyed, all my memories are ruined,” said Kim.

For Mrs Cahill too the event was both emotional and frightening as the house was built by her later husband for his family.

“I don’t know what we will do, but we are all staying together where ever we go.

We are all a family and we need to be together,” said Ms Abel.

The family are currently staying in a house in Kilkee, but are now also under financial pressure as they do not qualify for rent allowance as they own a house, albeit one they cannot live in.

“We are definitely not going to be home in the next few months,” explained Kim, who continues to be haunted by the traumatic events of Wednesday afternoon.

VICTIMS of industrial abuse in Clare are preparing a mass protest against the newly formed CaraNua organisation, which they say does not represent what the vast majority of victims actually want.

CaraNua, formally the Statutory Trust Fund, was formed last month to oversee the provision of services for people who have suffered abuse at the hands of the religious orders.

It is estimated that there are between 13,000 and 15,000 survivors still alive and CareNua has a budget of around € 110 million to help gain different services for these people.

Many victims groups are against the service, and claim that the money is owed directly to them from the religious orders and the state should not get involved. Ennis resident and spokesperson for the Survivors who Standing Together group, Cathriona Barker, said that many abuse victims now feel that a massive public protest is the only was of forcing the Government to change its mind.

“This money was given to survivors as a good will measure by the religious orders and the state have no business putting their hands on our money and dictating to us what happens. The state are guilt party in our childhood abuse, along with the church. What’s worse is that no survivor was ever asked for their opinion about any of this,” she told The Clare People yesterday.

“The vast majority of people would like this money split up between us. If you did that, then each victim would get € 7,300 from the church. For what many people went through this would be an insult, but at least it would be our decision.

Cathriona has been in contact with a number of other abuse survivors and the possibility of a mass protest seems to be getting closer.

“I was talking to a survivors group from the UK over the weekend and the majority of people over there don’t want anything to do with this new group either,” continued Cathriona.

“As far as we can see, most of the services being offered by CaraNua are services that a person should be able to access anyway. It is things like dental care, if a person needs a hip replacement, maybe if you need a door in your house widened.”

For more about Survivors Who Stand Together visit survivorswhostandtogether.wordpress.com.

A UNIQUE insight into Clare’s intrinsic role in the development of aviation in Ireland will be broadcast onto RTE screens over the next two Thursdays and will make for fascinating viewing for anyone who is curious about Shannon’s impact on Irish aviation.

The documentary was commissioned by Dublin based Avolon, the international aircraft leasing company founded by Domhnal Slattery, the Ennis native who is also Chairman of The Clare People . Pioneers and Aviators tells the story of the remarkable individuals whose vision, passion, successes and failures helped forge Ireland’s unique aviation landscape. The documentary charts Ireland’s aviation history, from its beginnings with the first transatlantic flight landing in the west of Ireland, through to the present day and the role Ireland and the Irish play in the global aviation industry.

Of course Shannon is an integral part of that story and it features heavily in the documentary, both from the airport’s genesis itself and of course its location as birth of the aircraft leasing industry, through Tony Ryan’s Guinness Peat Aviation.

The documentary was written and directed by Alan Gilsenan, an award winning Irish film-maker, writer and theatre director. His work has appeared on the BBC, ITV, Channel 4, RTÉ, the History Channel and CNBC among others. The music score for the film was composed by the renowned composer Mícheál Ó Súilleabháin.

The Clare connections are many. Contributors to Pioneers and Aviators include Avolon CEO Domhnal Slattery, who began his career in aviation with GPA in Shannon, former employees at Shannon Airport like former Airport GM Liam Skelly and the well known Michael Collins, who along with his brother Paddy, was a barman at the airport for over forty years.

The documentary was produced by Newgrange Pictures and Clare woman Jackie Lavin. From her storm hit Kilbaha base last week Jackie told The Clare People that putting the documentary together was something of a labour of love:

“It was a labour of love as all the fond memories of visiting Shannon airport as a child came flooding back and the excitement of getting on that outdoor viewing platform being so close to the runway, something that could never happen in today’s world.

“Of course the story we are telling has never really been told in this format. In particular I think people will be amazed to see the role Shannon has played in the history of aviation. It really has been a heavy hitter and I think that does come across in Pioneers and Aviators . I know I was very proud to see Clare play such a prominent role in a worldwide industry,” Jackie told us.

Complete with archive footage dating before World War Two, Pioneers and Aviators traces the introduction of the airplane into Ireland, from Alcock and Brown’s landing in Clifden to the establishment of the flying boat facility at Foynes, right up to the present day and the development of Shannon.

Along with an in-depth look at Tony Ryan’s rise to prominence through Aer Lingus to GPA and on to Ryanair, the documentary interviews many former and current key players in the aviation industry. These include former minister Des O’Malley, former Aer Lingus head Willie Walsh, current Boeing CEO Ray Connors, who attended the official premiere of the documentary in Dublin three weeks ago. Pioneers and Aviators airs this Thursday on RTE 1 television at 10.25pm. The second part of the doc- umentary will be shown on Thursday week, February 27th at the same time.

MIKE O’Connell said he went mad when work dried up a few years ago. A Limerick man who now lives in Ennis, Mike previously spent 12 years in the Army before working with Pan-American airlines.

When that ended, Mike worked briefly as a taxi driver before that too dried up. “I used detest going up to sign on. It used to break my heart. I’d have avoided it if I could have,” he recalls.

Salvation came in the form of an invitation to attend the Adult Education Centre where Mike enrolled in a two-year community care course.

He hasn’t looked back. “I’ve always dealt with people in my other jobs so I decided to go for community care and I’m glad I did because it opened my eyes to a lot of things that are changing,” he says.

“The ambition for everyone here is to get a job but even if you don’t, you learn so much.”

Like her classmate, mother of four Margaret O’Riordan had been out of education for 40 years before enrolling in adult education.

“I always had this feeling that I lost out a bit on education because I got married so young,” explains Margaret. “I felt I always would like to go back to education. I always had that in my head.”

Margaret, who previously worked in Spec Savers and Dunnes Stores and volunteered with local community groups, admits she found the prospect of returning to the classroom a daunting one.

“I was worried, really worried that I wouldn’t be able to keep up. I’d been 40 years out of education and I though, God, how am I going to learn all this? But step by step, we did it,” she says.

Both Margaret and Mike say their experiences of adult education have been hugely positive. “They have a saying here, education but not as you know it,” says Mike.

“It gives you confidence and builds up your self-esteem,” agrees Margaret.

For anyone unsure or anxious about returning to education, Margaret has a simple message – just go for it.

Mike says, “Do your day. Treat it like a job. After the first two weeks which are helter skelter, it will calm down. Give it the two weeks and then you get into a routine. I could never go back to sitting at home wondering what am I going to do all day.

“I’m sure there are people at home out of work who are mad to do something with their lives. This is the place to start it,” he adds.