Seaplane directors ‘gobsmacked’ at objection

THE directors of a Seaplane company, which is looking to establish a base in Mountshannon, are “gobsmacked” as to why locals are opposing their proposal for a business, which will not only create 10 jobs in the village but will also bring 5,000 to 7,000 tourists to the village annually.

The Clare Champion met with company directors Emelyn Heaps and Ronan Connolly and operations manager Stewart Curtis of Harbour Air Ireland Ltd to discuss the knock-on effects their proposed seaplane business would have for Clare and particularly tourism in East Clare.
The company, which is made up of three Clare men and a County Cork marine engineer, is currently in the process of establishing a seaplane operation that proposes to service the West of Ireland in its first 12 months of operations, with a possible national service kicking off thereafter.
Harbour Air Ireland, has just lodged plans with Galway County Council and Clare County Council to put in place pontoons at water locations at the Aran Islands, Galway and Lough Derg.
But following the receipt of 17 objections to the proposal for a floating pontoon at Mountshannon, where the company is hoping to have its base of operations, the directors have questioned why there is such an opposition to jobs and knock-on tourism potential. They have dismissed claims made in objections that the proposal would be “detrimental to tourism” or that “tourism in Mountshannon would be affected adversely”. 
Mr Heaps, director of Harbour Air Ireland, and the managing director of Clare Resorts in Bodyke, explained, “Our business is tourism. We are looking to create a unique transport method to give the guests from Clare resorts ease of access to the West of Ireland so they will stay in our area longer and also we have to do return trips. So we’d be looking at trips to Cobh, Foynes and Galway and we will be bringing these people back to Mountshannon and we’ll be promoting Mountshannon and reasons to visit Mountshannon. We’ll bring the people in and it’s up to the businesses in Mountshannon to cater for them. What has gobsmacked us is that we thought we would be welcomed with open arms in Mountshannon. We get phone calls from hotels across the country begging us to set up near them. It’s the reverse reaction to what we have experienced to date in areas where we’re blow-ins.”
Mr Heaps revealed that plans have recently been submitted to Tipperary County Council for a similar pontoon to service a seaplane and he explained that should the application fail in Mountshannon and be granted in Ballina, the base of operations will move to Tipperary. “We will get planning for the seaplane operation and we will start it up this year and unfortunately, Mountshannon will be left behind,” he said.
He explained the kind of service that the company hopes to establish. “For example, for us to get from Mountshannon to Aran, it’s a 10-hour return trip. We can do that by seaplane in roughly 40 minutes – 19 minutes there and 19 minutes back. What we’re trying to do is open up tracts of Ireland and drive tourism into these areas. Previously, in County Clare, tourists would spend a night here and a night in Galway but our remit is to keep people in the county for a week and make those destinations a day trip by seaplane, instead of the other way around where we’re the day trip. This is an air taxi service within Ireland. We will be doing test runs in the next three weeks. It operates under two different laws, aeronautical law, which is flying through the IAA and when it touches the water, it comes under the maritime law so it has to operate under the laws of the boat, so now they’re objecting to a boat.”
Operations manager, Stewart Curtis, who is currently working from the company’s new base in Mountshannon, acknowledged, “We have a lot of money invested in Mountshannon. The three of us are Clare men and for that reason, we’d like to keep the base in Mountshannon but if they don’t want it, we do know that Tipperary want it and there’s an application in now for Ballina. As a company, we are an open book and if anyone wants to make contact with us to allay any fears, we can do that. All our details are on our website, www.harbourair.ie.”
Meanwhile, company director Ronan Connolly, a solicitor from Ennis, said, “In most cases, what people are looking for is more footfall and that’s what we’ll be generating but this has gobsmacked us because this makes us think that they don’t want more footfall. It seems to be a total overreaction to the planning application. All we are asking for is for a pontoon and a seaplane is a boat when on water so why are we any different than all the other boats that are allowed operate there?
We would just hope that the planners don’t get mixed up and think they’re being asked to adjudicate on a seaplane. It is the Irish Aviation Authority that will ultimately make that decision.”