Newquay Air, a small company with a 20seater aircraft that's been plying the Cork-Belfast route for two years, is a good example of how Ireland can be linked, North and South, without threatening anybody. Its raison d'etre is to deliver business people from the top of the island to the bottom as quickly as possible, and vice versa; but with the potential for peace now seriously in the air there could well be expansion.
The service operates out of Cork, twice daily during the week and once on Sundays. So far business people are using it to circumvent the tortuous six- or seven-hour road journey from Cork to the northern capital. But if Belfast opens up as a tourist destination for southerners Newquay Air could find itself with a whole new catchment of passengers.
Already there are signs that this is happening. When Newquay Air initiated the Cork-Belfast connection in 1996 there were reasons for optimism. People on the streets in Northern Ireland were talking peace and looking forward to what would happen next. Down south, people like Tony Mooney, who markets Newquay Air, were looking forward to new business opportunities.
As the peace process went through its ups and downs there were worrying times for the fledgling service. Now there is every reason to think things can only get better.
When it started, the service ferried 1,000 people to Belfast in the first year.
Since the company was established in Cornwall by local businessman Gary Hitchen six years ago, it has had an eye to developments on this side of the Irish Sea. Two years into its Cork-Belfast service it has taken 20,000 people north and south.
The airline has 15 staff, with its own reservations and passenger-handling sites at Cork and Belfast City airports. Now there are plans for a larger, 35-seater aircraft.
The airline's view is that the peace process is going to make things happen. Advertising and marketing campaigns are already being planned, and this year alone there has been a 30 per cent growth in business. Increasingly, sports clubs in the South are using the service for fixtures in the North. "It's a great service and we hope it continues," says Ms Mary Cogan, of the Musgrave grocery chain in Cork. This expanding company has 30 Supervalu and Centra stores in the North, and not a day goes by without some executive from the Cork headquarters using Newquay Air. Newquay Air and the Northern Ireland Tourist Board (NITB) have a common purpose. The small airline wants to develop further, and the board wants to do the same.
While NITB doesn't yet have a breakdown of the regional figures for southerners going north, the certainty is that significantly more people from below the Border are looking up.
The Newquay Air service and the determined attempt by NITB to bring more people north show how things have progressed. The board is delighted with the air service from Cork. It represents, says Margaret O'Reilly, who runs NITB's Dublin operation, an excellent chance to develop markets that have been dormant because of the difficulties over the years.
Up to 40 hotels in the North are involved in a special summer promotion for tourists from the Republic. Margaret O'Reilly's office will provide all the details. There are golfing weekends in spectacular scenery, walking breaks, fishing and parachuting trips, even yoga breaks. Here are some of the figures. The latest data show that in 1997 about 1,415,000 people visited Northern Ireland. Of those, some 345,000 came from the Republic. Margaret O'Reilly says the number of people from the Munster area going north is increasing rapidly.
"The peace process has been wonderful for us. Huge numbers of people are looking to come North, and that's exactly what we wanted to happen. This is an exciting time for us."
Having worked in Belfast in darker times, I found it refreshing to see the city as it is today. When I flew up the other day with Newquay Air people wanted to know how long it took to get from Cork. When they heard I'd flown and that it had taken an hour, the general response was that if there was an air connection between the deep south and Belfast, something must be going right.
People I met in Belfast wanted to hear about the frequency of the flights to Cork and who was using them. The NITB is also doing everything in its power to get the message across. Fares, in punts, start at £79, plus £10 tax.