A noble President

MICHAEL D Higgins has often quoted Sean O’Casey’s belief that poverty was a disease that got into a man’s bones. “And no matter what that man becomes afterwards, it never leaves him,” President Higgins has stated.

From humble beginnings on a small farm run by an unmarried aunt and uncle in Ballycar, Newmarket-on-Fergus in the late 1940s, the former Labour deputy is unlikely to forget his Clare roots, despite becoming the ninth President of Ireland on Friday.
It has been a meteoric rise to Áras an Uachtaráin for the human rights activist, who has championed the cause of the marginalised and downtrodden at home and abroad for over 40 years.
Now, he faces one of his greatest challenges to deliver on his stated intention in his inaugural speech to implement a presidency of transformation, recognising and building on the many positive initiatives already underway in communities, in the economy and in individual and collective efforts throughout the country.
Already he has made an impressive start, judging by the positive reaction to what has been viewed as one of the most powerful inauguration speeches by an incoming president.
Mary Robinson won many admirers internationally for her work in developing human rights and inclusion during her presidency, while Mary McAleese left no stone unturned to achieve her goal of ‘building bridges’, developing lasting and sustainable peace in the Northern Ireland.
During his presidency, Michael D Higgins plans to hold a number of presidency seminars to explore themes such as the restoration of trust in institutions, the ethical connection between economy and society and the future of a Europe built on peace, social solidarity and sustainability.
The first of these seminars will focus on being young in Ireland. It will address issues of participation, education, employment, emigration and mental health. He also hopes the seminars during the next seven years might encompass consideration of global issues, stressing the importance of the ethical connection between politics, economy, development and society.
While these seminars are laudable, it will be important that he uses all his wide repertoire of skills as an orator and people-person to ensure they don’t turn into a “talking shop”.
Considering the country is on its knees economically, people on low incomes and the unemployed need something tangible from their new President to give them a renewed sense of confidence and hope.
President Higgins also has a considerable advantage over other national public representatives. An impressive mandate of over one million voters who gave him a high preference has provided him with additional ammunition if he starts to meet closed doors.
Even within the confines of what is largely a ceremonial role, the new President has the experience and the credentials to make a real difference over the next seven years.

Clock Ticks on Shannon

THE clock is ticking on the future ownership of Shannon Airport. The aspiration of Transport, Tourism and Sports Minister, Leo Varadkar is that Shannon Airport operates as an autonomous entity responsible for and running its own affairs.
But with the airport shipping annual losses in the region of €8million and passenger numbers on a drastic decline, that’s easier said than done.
Critically, Shannon isn’t and hasn’t been financially sustainable for a number of years and while its financial deficit has been subsumed by the profits generated in Dublin in the past, that situation will no longer prevail. Dublin profits are now being absorbed by the costs incurred in the development of Terminal 2.
In endeavouring to turn Shannon from what has become a liability for the controlling body, Dublin Airport Authority and the Government into an asset for the country and the region, Minister Varadkar has appointed consultants Booz and Company to identify alternative models of control and operation.
The fact that this decision has been taken is a clear indication that the current model is not operating satisfactorily and will not secure the optimum development of the airport as a strategic asset for the region.
Given its strategic importance as a gateway to Clare and the West of Ireland, it’s heartening that Clare County Council is playing a lead role in attempting to ensure that the region’s interests are at the core of any decision-making process.
A number of options are being examined by the consultants and they include the privatisation of the airport, retaining the status quo, offering a long term commercial lease of the airport without public sector involvement and, finally, that State ownership of the airport facility is retained, including the airport landbank, by vesting the facility in local public sector authorities.
Clare County Council overwhelming endorsed the latter option at a meeting this week, after county manager Tom Coughlan pointed out this model would have a number of distinct advantages in that the public sector authorities would have a vested interest in the sustainable development of the region.
Additionally, the public sector authorities, particularly local authorities, are statutory bodies which have been and will be in existence for the foreseeable future, therefore authority for the airport and adjoining landbank would be vested in the people of the region through the democratically-elected local authorities.
Mr Coughlan also emphasised that it would be imperative that Shannon Airport would not become a financial liability for the local public sector agencies and the issue of outstanding debt would have to be resolved, as would other legacy financial matters.
He revealed that an objective of Clare County Council is to work with the airport authority and other public authorities, such as Shannon Development, to secure optimum development of the airport lands.
Towards this end, the council has engaged with both the airport authority and Shannon Development in the preparation of a high-level strategic plan to identify key priority projects and developments capable of being accommodated at the Shannon Airport lands, Shannon Free Zone and Westpark.
Mr Coughlan indicated that ownership of the airport landbank by public authorities would further enhance the attractiveness of the development potential and would facilitate the development of the landbank in a unified, cohesive manner as a strategic asset for the region and the West of Ireland.
Clare County Council is to be applauded for its pro-active approach. A decision on ownership is due by the end of the year. Maybe by then, the people of Clare might have a major say in the operation of its international airport.