Shannon airport 'not supporting needs of region'

Shannon airport is not supporting the needs of business in the mid-west and the Government plan to overhaul the management structure at the airport has now gone into reverse.

That is the view of the newly appointed chairman of the American Chamber of Commerce in the mid-west, Mr Kieran McSweeney, who also expressed concern yesterday at the mid-west losing out to other regions in attracting foreign direct investment. At a press briefing in Shannon, Mr McSweeney said that the current management situation at Shannon airport "is in limbo and cannot continue".

The decision to break up Aer Rianta and appoint a new board to run Shannon was the correct one, Mr McSweeney said.

"Since the Minister for Transport, Mr Brennan, appointed the new board three months ago, there has been no action, no focus and, effectively, the plan has gone into reverse. The new board is powerless."

Mr McSweeney said that the chamber "recognises there are legalities and challenges to be finalised, but I would encourage the Government to ensure that the new board has autonomy and support to implement its business strategy at the earliest possible time".

The level of air services for the mid-west's business community from Shannon airport also came under fire from Mr McSweeney.

Representing 75 US-owned companies employing 11,000 people in the mid-west, Mr McSweeney said: "Reduced service by carriers and ill-timed flight schedules mean that companies in the mid-west cannot easily connect to the major business cities."

The decline of services being offered to the business traveller from Shannon reinforced the view among companies in the mid-west that the region was being overlooked, he added.

The chamber has set up a working group to find out why the region is losing out to others on inward investment. Mr McSweeney said the mid-west had not developed as a strong clustering region for attracting flows of investment in specific sectors, in contrast to Cork and Galway, which have benefited from being locations for the pharmaceutical and healthcare industries.

The chamber's fears over the mid-west losing out on new inward investment is supported by Government data, which show that, since May 2002, only 432 new jobs have been created in the region, with no new IDA-Shannon Development jobs created in the Limerick area.

These figures are less than the overall figure for Co Leitrim during that time and compare unfavourably with 1,710 new IDA-sponsored jobs created in Galway and 1,069 new jobs in Cork. Mr McSweeney also highlighted an infrastructural "deficit" in the mid-west and said the Government must accelerate the regions's roads programme.