O’Connell slated at meeting

SHANNON Airport Authority Chairman Brian O’Connell has been accused of treating Clare County Council with contempt.
At the November meeting of the local authority, Mayor Christy Curtin and county manager Tom Coughlan spoke about a meeting they had with Mr O’Connell, which was also attended by Mayor of Shannon Tony Mulcahy.
According to Councillor Curtin, there was a discussion lasting about 90 minutes. He said the main conclusion was that a meeting would be held in the coming weeks, to which all public representatives will be invited.
However, Councillor Patricia McCarthy said she wasn’t satisfied with this and said a previous motion that the council had passed, asking for a comprehensive statement from Mr O’Connell on the formulation of a strategy and business plan for the airport, had not been acted on.
“I’m not happy with that. We’ve been down this road so often it’s gone beyond a joke. We need to know what is happening and we need to see a business plan,” she commented.
“How much more research is needed to know we are in serious trouble and we need a plan?” she added.
Councillor Gerry Flynn said all the members from the Shannon Electoral Area had been behind the motion. He also said the response from Mr O’Connell, in which he merely said its contents had been noted, was “a contemptible response to the members of Clare County Council”.
Councillor Flynn added that prior to taking up his position, Mr O’Connell had been “shouting from the rooftops” but that this had changed. He said the SAA head “won’t come out of the bunker” now.
Councillor PJ Ryan also said councillors were being treated with contempt in his view and that the SAA wanted “to carry on its own merry way”.
The county manager said he left the meeting with the impression that work is taking place on a business plan, while Councillor Curtin acknowledged that no minutes had been taken at the meeting.