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THE FUTURE of Shannon Airport can’t be about profit and can’t be about Ryanair – these twin messages were sounded out by Fianna Fáil this week as the county’s international airport prepares to unveil a new blueprint to chart its future over the next decade.

The party’s transport spokesperson, Clare’s own Deputy Timmy Dooley has told The Clare People that “pandering to the whims of Ryanair” should have no place in Shannon’s new business model.

Deputy Dooley has also warned the Dublin Airport Authority that any new drive “for profitability” or “break even situation” at Shannon Airport could signal the death knell of its seven-decade status as an international airport.

“We shouldn’t be focusing on Shannon in itself being a profitable entity,” said Deputy Dooley ahead of the publication of the first masterplan for the airport since 1999.

“The airport from a regional point of view has to be seen as critical infrastructure to allow the region to thrive, develop and grow. Dublin Airport is the cash cow and it should always be the case where Dublin Airport should be in a position to provide subvention to Shannon.

“It has got to be about cost control and cost containment, but the bottom line should not be about profitability for an airport like Shannon.

“If you reduce Shannon to where it is only at a break even point, then you have to reduce the level of facilities and services to a point that it’s not going to be able to retain its in- ternational status.

“There is a certain level of service and staffing that you need to maintain to keep status in place,” said Deputy Dooley.

Continuing, the county’s only opposition member of the Oireachtas said the key to Shannon’s future lay in “getting its cost base right” and looking to new markets. “Clearly it has been next to impossible to get an appropriate deal with low cost carrier Ryanair,” he warned.

“He [Michael O’Leary] has played ducks and drakes with Shannon for a long time. Pandering to Ryanair’s needs might seem appropiate on occasions and welcome, but it hasn’t proven to be sustainable on a longterm basis. It’s not time to forget about Ryanair, but it’s time to forget about pandering to the whims of Ryanair.

“What the airport has to do is focus on more sustainable business with airlines that are prepared to invest in routes and stick with them during difficult. It’s the path that will provide the best path for long-term sustainability,” he added.

THE Ennis Business Forum is doing its bit to try and transform the county capital into Ireland’s friendliest town. Now comes another initiative being pioneered by three-time former Mayor of Ennis, Cllr Frankie Neylon, to create buzz in the town for one day, in the hope that it can stimulate renewed interest and activity in the retail sector.

It’s being labelled as Ennis’ ‘Super Tuesday’ and it takes place on September 6 next – an idea that Cllr Neylon says can be “whatever businesses in the town want it to be to try and help their business”.

The idea for staging a once-off event where businesses can run special promotions, whether individually or in groups, was floated by Cllr Neylon earlier this month within the Ennis Town Council. Since then, thanks to a local marketing drive through the circulation of handouts and questionares among all the businesses in town, sufficient interest has prompted the designation of the first Tuesday of September as the county capital’s ‘Super Tuesday’.

“September 6 is around the time that Muhammad Ali came to Ennis,” says Cllr Neylon. “We can’t use his name for anything and a few people said to me that we should come up with a festival. It was difficult enough to get people to commit to anything.

“I mentioned Super Tuesday to a few people and they thought it was a good idea, so I ran with it a couple of weeks ago. The idea for the day is that instead of making a profit for the day that they might make a customer. It’s to have a special day. They can do whatever they want. It’s left totally to themselves to do what they want.

“We’re inviting all the traders in the town to take part. We want them to join us to have one good day of shopping in Ennis. We want each trader to have their own Super Tuesday – they can do whatever kind of promotion they want with their business.

“I can say that it has proven to be a success so far, and that’s even a good bit ahead of the event. Up to 30 of the businesses around town have been on to me already and they are taking part. We circulated a handout to all businesses. We collected those last week and now we’re getting ready for the day,” he adds.

CLARE traditional musicians and dancers excelled at last week’s Fleadh Cheoil na hÉireann, which saw the best of traditional Irish talent descend on Cavan. A large brigade of Clare talent made their way north for the event, with just under 40 Munster champions travelling from Clare for the event.

The wind was clearly with the Banner musicians and dancers as they returned home yesterday with no fewer than 19 first-place All Ireland medals in their back pockets. The main Clare winner in the competition was Fergal Breen, who took home two first-place titles for the uilleann pipes and for the uilleann pipes slow airs.

There were first-place finishes for Paul Farren and Tara Breen in the fiddle category; Cara Ní Chíarba and Eimear Coughlan in the harp category; and Vanessa Millar on the button accordion. Other All-Ireland titles went to Karen McMahon on the concertina, Tara Ní Amhlaigh on the mouth organ, Anthony Devitt on the mandolin and Elvie Miller in the accompaniment section.

There was also a strong performance for the bands, with Burren Band taking the U-12 title while Aoife Daly won in the Songs in English category, Eimear Coughlan won the Harp Slow Airs and Isobel Elger won the Fiddle Slow Airs.

The Banner dancers were not to be outdone either. St Mary’s Full Set Ladies U-12, St. James won the Full Set Mixed U-12 and Croí na hÓige won the Full Set Mixed 12-15, while there were also first-place finishes for Drithle an Iarthair in the Full Set Mixed U-18 Ruagairí an Chláir in the Full Set Mixed.

The Clare branch of Comhaltas yesterday paid tribute to all the teachers, local organisers, parents and musicians who have put in the effort over the last 12 months to make this year’s fleadh such a success for Clare musicians and dancers.

“This success is testament to the dedication of the musicians involved and the calibre of teachers we have in the county,” said Séamus O Lideadha, Cathaoirleach of Clare County Board CCÉ.

“In addition to this, the great tradition of Irish music in County Clare and the active promotion of this by Comhaltas and the County Arts Office play an important role. I have special praise for the parents of the children for passing on the love of our traditional music, culture and language.”

A NEW masterplan for the development and safeguarding of services at Shannon Airport is set to be unveiled in September, just ahead of the 75year anniversary of when the first sod was turned to start the construction of Ireland’s first transatlantic gateway.

In consultation with Dublin Airport Authority chiefs, the Shannon Airport Authority are now believed to be putting the finishing touches to the blueprint that will be expected to chart a new future for the former hub of the aviation world over the next decade.

The plan’s publication will be the culmination of a consultation process between the Dublin Airport Authority, SAA and the public, by way of taking submissions on the airport’s future from key partners in the wider airport infrastructure and catchment area, before finalising the key points of concern and concentration in Shannon’s drive to usher in a new era of profitablity.

“A key element in drafting such a plan is to elicit the opinions of airport stakeholders,” a Shannon spokesper- son revealed in April, after business groups in the mid-west region were invited to a think-tank aimed at coming up with new ideas for the airport going forward.

The masterplan is being formulated against a backdrop of figures contained in the recently released Dublin Airport Authority annual report, which revealed that passenger numbers through Shannon in 2010 dropped by one million over the previous year.

This drop represented a 37 percent decline in passenger traffic, a 12-year low at Shannon.

Only 1,755, 885 passengers used Shannon in 2010, a figure that’s now lower than 1998 levels of 1,840,008 passengers when the airport was still reeling from the loss of its transatlantic gateway status in 1993.

The drastic fall-off in numbers, from 2,794,563 in 2009 represented the fourth year in a row that Shannon’s passenger count when into sharp decline.

Between 2004 and 2005 passenger numbers increased by a record 37.9 per cent as Shannon’s numbers grew to a record 3,639,046 from 2,395,116 over a two-year period.

It’s expected that the new blueprint will concentrate on stabilizing Shannon’s finances – rather that directly addressing the passenger decline with the transformation of Shannon into a worldwide cargo hub development seen as a potential saviour for the airport.

Into this category comes the Lynx Cargo trans-shipment facility, which is to be grant aided to the tune of € 6m by the DAA, while Shannon Development chairman, Dr Vincent Cunnane has said “the airport will not survive on passengers alone and needs a cargo hub”.

THE search for a missing east Clare man enters into its eighth day this morning, with friends and family joining Coast Guard and Garda search teams around the Cliffs of Moher area.

Tulla native Gerry Kelly is a regular visitor to the tourist attraction, where his car was discovered unattended last Monday evening. The 61-year-old was last seen on Tuesday, August 8. However, there have been a number of unconfirmed sightings of him in the Tulla area between then and August 15, when his car was discovered.

“The search is still ongoing and will be for the next number of days. We have been doing a protracted search of the area for the past week,” said Matty Shannon of the Doolin Unit of the Irish Coast Guard.

“This man was a very regular visitor to the cliffs. He worked at the county council and a lot of his friends and family have been up in the area helping in the search. At the moment, the only real piece of information that we have is that his car was found at the cliffs.

“Our search is focusing on the Cliffs of Moher and Doolin area but I do know that friends, family and county council colleagues are searching in areas around Spanish Point and up as far as Fanore – all the different areas either side of Doolin.”

Mr Kelly, who is single, does not have his mobile phone with him which has made it difficult for gardaí to track his movements electronically. He is described as being five feet five inches tall with short brown hair, a round face and a ruddy complexion.

Anyone with any information is asked to contact Gardaí in Killaloe at 061 620540 or Ennistymon at 065 7072180.

A SECOND major climbing accident of the summer took place in North Clare this Saturday when a man had to be airlifted to safety after falling more than five metres at the Ailladee area, just north of Doolin.

The man, who is understood to be a Czech national living in Ireland, was “free climbing” with three others on Saturday evening when the accident took place.

Free climbing mean climbing without the use of ropes and is considered to be more dangerous than abseiling using ropes.

A 41-year-old man was airlifted to hospital after his climbing equipment apparently failed and he fell five metres from a cliff face, crushing several vertebrae in his back. The man was airlifted to by Rescue 115 to the University College Hospital in Galway.

Meanwhile, a passenger ferry ran aground in low tide in Doolin last week – forcing it’s crew and captain to remain on board for several hours until the tide changed again.

The Rose of Aran, which is operated by Aran Doolin Ferries, was arriving in Doolin to collect passengers before travelling to the Aran Islands when the incident took place.

The Doolin unit of the Irish Coast Guard assessed the vessel and concluded that it was neither in danger of capsizing or a pollution risk.

“The tides were very low last week and the ship ran aground. It is something that could happen any time at Doolin except for the skill of the skippers who are navigating in that shallow area,” said Matty Shannon of the Doolin Unit of the Irish Coastguard.

“The boat didn’t list and there was no immediate danger. This is the sort of thing that wouldn’t happen if there was a new pier in Doolin.”

RURAL shopkeepers are being urged to increase their security measures, after a shop in west Clare was targeted by shoplifters over the weekend.

A shop in Cree village was targeted on Sunday, when cash and cigarettes were stolen after a young sales assistant was distracted.

Two women went into the shop at around 6pm. One of the women distracted the sales assistant, while the other went behind the counter.

The shopkeeper then confronted the duo, but they denied doing anything wrong and quickly left the scene in a van that had been parked nearby.

Gardaí say they have obtained clear CCTV footage from the premises, which they hope will help to solve the crime.

The women are described as being in their late 30s and were around 5’ 7” or 5’ 8” in height. One had blonde hair with black streaks and wore a pink coat and black hat. She had a mark over her right eye.

The other woman wore a pink or red jacket and grey leggings with a red hat with white trim. It is believed that they are not local.

Gardaí say the amount of cash stolen was not substantial, but in the wake of similar incidents in Feakle and Flagmount in recent weeks, they are warning shop owners to ensure their security measures are adequate.

“This is most unusual. We looked at the adjoining counties but nothing of this nature seems to have occurred,” said the head of the Clare Garda Division, Chief Superintendent John Kerin.

“I would be confident enough that we would identify those involved from the CCTV,” he added.

He is advising shop owners to “keep small amounts of money in the till; keep it cleared regularly and have good CCTV that covers all areas of the shop”.

“Make sure you are not distracted,” he said.

Anyone with information on the Cree incident should contact Kilrush Garda Station on 065 9051017.

ALMOST 20,000 Clare households could face the prospect of shelling out as much as € 300 each to have their septic tanks examined following the implementation of EU legislation which is likely to become law in Ireland this September.

The new law would require every septic tank in the county to be examined by Clare County Council to determine if the tank meets with the new EU guidelines. It is understood that this examination would be carried out at the expense of the landowner themselves.

Should the septic fail to meet the standards required, improvements costing up to an estimated € 7,000 would be required – again with the home-owner responsible for meeting the cost of upgrading or replacing the septic tank.

A spokesperson from Clare County Council told The Clare People last week that the local authority were not in a position to comment on the issue until legislation had been passed by Government.

The local authority’s Director of Services for the Environment, David Timlin, did confirm that the number of Clare houses affected could be as high as 19,000.

“Until such time as any such legislation is published, I am not in a position to comment on the kind of regulatory regime that may be put in place. I will need to see what exactly the local authority’s responsibilities would be,” he said. “There are about 19,000 single-house treatment systems in Clare, mainly septic tanks.”

North West Area MEP, Marian Harkins (IND) hosted a public meeting on the subject in Ennis last Friday. “There is a huge inequity in requiring rural householders to pay an as yet undisclosed fee to inspect septic tanks which, if found deficient, could involve subsequent and significant additional costs for them,” she said.

“Bearing in mind that billions of Euro of exchequer and EU funding have been provided to supply a completely free sewerage service to urban dwellers, the least that rural dwellers should have is equally free service.

“Rural dwellers provide their own sewerage treatment at their own expense, and repair it at no cost to the state or local authorities.

“It is regrettable that the two parties of government, Fine Gael and Labour, have decided that rural dwellers will pay while their urban counterparts will not.”

ROADSTONE has declined to comment on increasing speculation that they are about to re-open a quarry, formally operated by the Whelan Group, on the Lahinch Road in Ennis.

In a statement to The Clare People yesterday, a spokesperson that that Roadstone had no official comment to make on the situation, but said that they were aware of the growing speculation linking them and the Ennis quarry.

In December of 2010 the High Court made to wind up five companies in the Whelan Group after the company directors withdrew a petition for court protection. The Clare People understands that a number of people, who have been out of work since the operations ceased at the quarry, have been contacted in recent days about the possibility of returning to work, but it is unclear how many jobs will be reinstated and who will be operating the facility.

The Whelan’s Group employed 120 people in five separate companies when the winding up order was issued in December of last year and the company directors said at the time that they “profoundly regretted” any job losses that would come about as a result.

Clare Fine Gael Senator Martin Conway (FG) yesterday welcomed any increase in employment in the area and said that Roadstone would make a success of the quarry if a deal is completed.

“Roadstone are a company with a great track record and a massive amount of experience in this area and if a deal can be done I have no doubt that they will make a great success of the venture,” the Fine Gael senator said.

“Every job is an important job and that area was hit particularly badly with the closure of the quarry. I would welcome any move that would allow the people effected by this to get back to work.”

The Whelan’s Group is a familyowned company which has been in operation in Clare for the past 40 years.