Alleged threat to seaplane under investigation

Gardaí in Scariff are investigating an alleged threat to “shoot down a seaplane” following a test demonstration held in Mountshannon on Saturday, March 27.
Arising from a complaint made by Harbour Air Ireland to the gardaí about an alleged threat to damage one of their aircraft, a legally held firearm was voluntarily handed into a gun dealer pending the outcome of the investigation.
A local garda source confirmed, “Alleged threats are under investigation. A complaint has been made and we are investigating it but no incident has taken place, other than what was complained of.”
A person named as having allegedly made these threats has vehemently denied any such accusations to The Clare Champion.
“I deny all allegations made against me,” he said.
A garda said, “We have received no report of damage to a plane. A statement has been made [in relation to alleged threats] and the matter is being monitored tightly. No threat has been made with a firearm. What was [allegedly] mentioned was that they would shoot down the plane.
“The position is that a gun was not seized but a gun was handed into a gun dealer voluntarily until the matter has been investigated. It is an alleged threat and it remains as such until those investigations are complete.”
Harbour Air Ireland, the company seeking to develop a seaplane operation at Mountshannon, has confirmed that it made the complaint to the gardaí on this matter.

Speaking to The Clare Champion, operations manager with Harbour Air Ireland, Stewart Curtis said, “What I can say is as a company, for health and safety reasons, because of the threats made to us, we had to put things in writing with An Garda Síochána. “It would be negligent of us not to do it and if someone shot at the plane or if they were said to have done something to the plane, it would have been negligent of us not to have reported it to the gardaí. It is now up to the gardaí to investigate it.”
Harbour Air Ireland is due to reschedule its test demonstration of a four-seater seaplane for next week and has confirmed it will be seeking assistance from the gardaí on the day.
“We will be requesting the presence of the gardaí on the test day in the interest of public safety. We have no issue with peaceful protest but those that are protesting should be open to dialogue,” Mr Curtis said.
Local gardaí confirmed they would be present to “prevent a breach of the peace”.
“If boats are out making their protest, we have no issue with that,” the garda said.
Tensions are high in relation to the proposed development but Mr Curtis disputes that the issue has reached a crisis point. “I believe that the planning authority will adjudicate on the information being provided to them. We are concerned as a company that the fishing clubs in the area have not seen light and have not come to the table. Everyone can work together. There is 45sq miles of the lake that can be shared by us all. We are just looking for a small piece of the lake of approximately 600ft by 65ft to cater for our biggest plane, which has a 65ft wingspan,” he concluded.