Autonomy For Shannon Is Now Inevitable

This post is from a press interview with Kehlan Kirwan of FocusSME.

Fine Gael Senator Tony Mulcahy from Shannon said he believes that full autonomy for Shannon Airport is inevitable, after a Government-commissioned report recommended an end to the Dublin Airport Authority’s (DAA) management of the facility.

Senator Mulcahy said the Booz and Company report strengthens the argument put forward by public bodies, regional development agencies, private organisations and politicians in the Mid West Region in relation to an autonomous Shannon Airport and Free Zone.

He said he believed Minister for Transport Leo Varadkar and his Department will issue a decision on Shannon Airport’s future “by mid-April, if not earlier”.

According to Senator Mulcahy: “I spoke with Minister Varadkar today and reiterated my long held belief that Shannon Airport will require full autonomy if it is to prosper in the future. The Booz and Company report clearly backs up this view and I would be confident that once due diligence has been undertaken in relation to the financial implications of such a move that the Minister will issue a decision that will benefit Shannon Airport”.

Shannon Airport has been in a storm of controversy over the past few years as locals and politicians have criticised the DAA’s handling of dwindling passenger numbers at the airport. This could also pave the way for Shannon to separate from the DAA and transform itself by creating a logistics hub for the west of Ireland, a suggestion that has been voiced on numerous occasions.