Tag Archives: shannon

CHEQUES for €11,773.91 were presented to both Cahercalla and Milford Care Centre recently, the result of fundraising at Element Six. Each year the company along with its staff members choose a charity to support for the coming 12 months. As 2020 approached the company had received many nominations for two charities, Cahercalla Hospice and Mildford. Throughout the course of that year it did hold some events, but given the pandemic it was extremely difficult to raise any substantial sum of money. However there were still fundraising events such as a 6km walk, a coffee morning, an ice cream day and walk in the 12 O’Clock Hills. As the pandemic prevailed, workers in Milford and Cahercalla battled Covid-19, trying their best to protect nursing home residents and patients. The front line workers went far beyond the call of duty to keep them safe, while also providing love, reassurance, company and care. They kept families in regular contact through window visits, video …

SHANNON artist Dominic McNamara is producing a series of art works inspired by the conflict in Ukraine, which will be sold to raise funds for the relief effort. “My intention was to try and create pencil drawings, just capturing not necessarily violence or things like that, but to show Ukraine and the Ukrainian people the way they are at the minute,” he said. “I have one of Freedom Square where you can see rubble, but there’s no violence to be seen as such.” Dominic said that as well as doing pencil drawings, he also does pastel and paints in oils. “I want to get a collection together, but I also want to try and figure out a way to sell them as a collection or to sell them as individual pieces. “I’ve never done this before, so I don’t fully know what I’m doing yet. Unfortunately, I don’t see things there ending any time soon,” he added. He was very …

EMPLOYMENT in a Shannon aviation company will more than treble over a six year-period from this Friday when a new takeover of a neighbouring business takes off. Atlantic Aviation Group (AAG) employs 320 in its existing hangar, 120 in its UK base and will take on about 300 new employees from Lufthansa Technik. The new hangar, which is almost three times the size of the AAG building, can accommodate nine narrow body Ryanair sized aircraft or two wide body and four narrow body aircraft. Back in April 2015, when investor Patrick Jordan bought the company it was employing about 217. Revenue have grown from €15 million to a projected figure of €80 million by the end of the year, with AAG chief executive, Shane O’Neill expecting growth to more than €100 million over the coming years. Barring some unexpected major setback, Mr O’Neill believes overall employment could increase up to 1,000 in a few years. AAG services, maintains and repairs …

SHANNON had its first ever Parkrun last Saturday morning, with scores of people coming out for the occasion.  Parkruns are free community-based, volunteer-led events which take place on a Saturday morning at 9:30am in many countries worldwide – Ireland has over 100 events currently.   Rob Stephen was instrumental in establishing the Shannon one and speaking about the first local event, he said, “The sun was out, the weather was great. We had around 150 people participating and about 15 people volunteering. It went very well, there was a good crowd volunteering. “One woman flew over from London to do it, she stayed locally in a hotel then, she’s a big enthusiast. There was a big crew from the Parkrun in Tralee, a couple came from Naas. “Obviously there was a good few local people too and people came from the other nearby Parkruns.” He said that the crowd won’t be as big this Saturday, but that it is hoped around …

AFTER Rose Hynes’ time as chair of Shannon Group concluded it took more than a year for the Minister for Transport to put in place a replacement, but following her successor Pádraig Ó Céidigh’s resignation last Wednesday, it took a mere six days. On the positive side, the new appointment Conal Henry has experience in aviation having been commercial director at Ryanair, while the fact he has had involvement with the Shannon Foynes Port Company indicates some knowledge of this region. However the fact that someone with the depth of experience and knowledge as Pádraig Ó Céidigh resigned in frustration after less than six months in the role is something that has alarmed many people and leaves serious questions. Some will undoubtedly see the very speedy appointment of a replacement as a move designed to limit the controversy resulting from such a high profile resignation, particularly as the Government moved so slowly prior to the appointment of Mr Ó Céidigh. …

OVER 150 Ukrainian refugees had arrived at Shannon by last Monday, having had to flee their homes and leave their old lives behind. Aiden Lonergan is National Director of Community Support for the Irish Red Cross, and is also a Garda Sergeant, based in Ennis. Speaking about the work of the Red Cross with the refugees here he said, “Our response in Clare is primarily focused around Shannon Airport. People are arriving in there and as they arrive Red Cross members are providing them with basic support. “They land in Shannon, there are three to five Red Cross members there for when the flights arrive and we try to give them basic supports in terms of tea, coffee, fruit, basic food items, personal hygiene items, children can get bubbles, colouring pencils, cuddly toys, that kind of thing.” How are the people when they arrive here? “I suppose like many people after a very long and difficult journey, some of them …

THIS Sunday the 7.40am Shannon-Heathrow flight will resume, marking the full restoration of the crucial London services. The following day the Shannon-Newark service will also return after almost two years, with flights set to operate seven days a week. Ryanair services to Palma and Malta are also beginning on Sunday, with the airport’s summer schedule kicking in. Shannon currently offers 26 destinations including options to Budapest, Corfu, Marseille, Barcelona, Faro, Lanzarote and Edinburgh and more. The full resumption of the Heathrow service is very welcome news for Shannon, as the London airport is one of the most significant global hubs, offering onward connectivity to a huge range of destinations. While Shannon has connectivity to other London airports, the Heathrow service is much more important to local tourism interests and Ennis hotelier Sean Lally said that its return is hugely welcome. “It’s probably the most important route in and out of Shannon Airport. Not alone is it a hub for the …

LESS than six months ago aviation entrepreneur Pádraig Ó Céidigh was appointed chairman of the board of Shannon Group to widespread approval, but he resigned on Wednesday due to mounting frustration. When approached on Wednesday Mr Ó Céidigh declined to comment following his sudden exit after such a short period of time, but other sources have said he was quite disillusioned. It is understood that there were differences of opinion between the new chairman and other senior figures attached to Shannon Group, all of whom were in place before his appointment. One person said that Mr Ó Céidigh felt he was “frozen out” since his appointment and was having difficulty pursuing changes that he felt were important for Shannon. Mr Ó Céidigh was only appointed in late September of last year, and while he was clearly enthusiastic at the outset, his tenure has proved to be an extremely short one and yet again the process of finding a replacement must …