Tag Archives: Varadkar

AN Tánaiste Leo Varadkar will officially open the Future Mobility Campus Ireland (FMCI) in Shannon Free Zone on Friday.  Mr Varadkar will be given a tour of the facility and see some of the new products that are being developed. The facility is for the development of things such as driverless cars, air taxis and drones to deliver life saving organs or drugs, as well as the air traffic technology to manage them – including ‘on the ground’ traffic, and other life-changing ‘the future is now’ technologies for use in Ireland and internationally.   Some of these will be on display at the official opening including a self-parking car and the latest Tesla which guests can test drive. Funded by Enterprise Ireland and industry partners, the unique FMCI campus at Shannon has world class facilities for aerospace and automotive research and development, including a recently opened Advanced Air Mobility Hub.  The commercially-viable facility supports a range of parties and enterprises, from …

THE new Shannon Estuary Economic taskforce will report on strategies and actions to maximise the waterway’s potential in October The terms of reference for a new taskforce to assess the strategic strengths and comparative advantages of the Shannon Estuary were published recently. Tánaiste and Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment Leo Varadkar laid out the scope of the Shannon Estuary Economic Taskforce, following Government approval for its establishment. By October it is to have produced a report, specifying the actions which can be taken to create jobs and opportunities in the region. Mr Varadkar said the Estuary has a lot of advantages to offer. “The Shannon Estuary has the people, connectivity and natural resources to become an economic powerhouse. There is huge potential for economic development and job creation in the region, in areas such as wind, hydrogen and solar energy for example. “The newly established Technological University of the Shannon will add to the talent pool and research and …

CLARE County Council has unveiled details of a new economic and spatial strategy that will drive the economic, social and physical development of Ennis over the next 18 years. They claim it will lead to the town being “one of the best places in the world to live, work and visit.” The plan, entitled ‘Ennis 2040 – An Economic and Spatial Strategy’,was launched on Friday morning by Tánaiste and Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment, Leo Varadkar TD. According to a statement from the Council the strategic objectives of Ennis 2040 are to position the town as a location for investment, to make it Ireland’s first climate adaptive town, to create ‘Ireland’s First 10 Minute Town’ where a range of community facilities and services are accessible in short timeframes and to promote Ennis as an accessible place of quality with a quality-of-life proposition that sets it apart from other locations. Mr Varadkar said, “I’m really happy to launch this exciting …

McNamara ribs Tanaiste over previous role in Shannon appointments SHANNON Group badly needs to see a new chairperson appointed, Clare TD Michael McNamara told the Dáil last week. He also taunted the Tanaiste regarding the role he played in having Rose Hynes reappointed as its chair in the past. “It has been an extraordinarily difficult year for Shannon Airport. Throughout much, if not all, of the past year, it has not had a chair for its board of directors. “Strategic decisions need to be made at Shannon regarding its aviation business but also in respect of Shannon Heritage and its future. The chair of a board of directors is there to provide strategic guidance,” he said. “When the Tánaiste was Taoiseach, Shane Ross was his Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport, and I am told he wrote a book about the experience. “He rang the then chair of Shannon Airport to tell her he was not going to continue her …

IT is no longer appropriate to treat the whole country as just one zone for the purposes of fighting Covid-19, according to Clare TD and Chairman of the Oireachtas Covid-19 committee, Michael McNamara. He believes that Ireland is not too small to divide into different zones, while he said official reluctance to do so reflects a tendency to focus on the needs of Dublin solely. “Ireland is small, but it’s not that small. It’s not Luxembourg. It’s big enough to break it into sections if they wanted to, but the tendency in Ireland, increasingly, is what’s good for Dublin is good for the rest of the country and what’s bad for the rest of the country doesn’t really matter.” He said that it would be possible to introduce different restrictions for different counties. “It would depend on the medical advice but I would have thought counties (are zones that could have different regulations from each other). I mean if you …

THERE is shock around Clare this afternoon as Taoiseach Leo Varadkar has announced a range of new measures to try and halt the spread of Covid 19. In a statement in Washington today the Taoiseach said that schools, colleges and childcare facilities will close, while he advised that indoor mass gatherings of more than 100 people and outdoor gatherings of more than 500 be cancelled. Explaining how serious the situation is, the Taoiseach said, “Yesterday, the World Health Organisation formally described it as pandemic and the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC) updated it guidelines advising us all to act early to be effective. “Our own National Public Health Emergency Team met last night and has issued new advice to Government. We are acting on that advice today.” “There will be many more cases. “More people will get sick and unfortunately, we must face the tragic reality that some people will die. “The virus is all over the …

IF Leo Varadkar had been hoping for a mild, diplomatic press conference with Donald Trump on Wednesday afternoon, he would have been disappointed. While Brexit is almost universally seen as a historic and catastrophic mistake in Ireland, one which Mr Varadkar and his Government are vehemently opposed to, Mr Trump wasted almost no time before talking it up, as the two spoke to the press in the Shannon Airport terminal. “It’s an honour to be here, we’ll discuss various things, probably you’ll (Varadkar) ask me about Brexit, because I just left some very good people who are very much involved with Brexit as you know. I think it’ll all work out, all work out very well and also for you, with your wall, your border. We have a border situation in the United States and you have one over here. I think they’re both going to work out well. “Both the military and trade are a very big factor and …

TAOISEACH Leo Varadkar is under intense political pressure today, after claiming he had sought to help Donald Trump prevent a windfarm being built near Doonbeg. At a lunch in Washington yesterday, he spoke about receiving a phone call from Mr Trump three or four years ago, at which time he was Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport. In the call, Mr Varadkar said that the future President told him he had a problem near the golf course, where a wind farm was being proposed. Afterwards, Mr Varadkar said he tried to assist Mr Trump. “I endeavoured to do what I could do about it,” Mr Varadkar claimed. “I rang the County Council and enquired about the planning permission and subsequently the planning permission was declined and the windfarm was never built. Thus the landscape being preserved. The President has very kindly given me credit for that. Although I do think it probably would have been refused anyway. But I’m very …