Tag Archives: Shannon airport

Antiques, original photographs and files, as well as a small library of Irish aviation books, owned by the late Irish Times reporter, Arthur Quinlan, are to be sold at auction. Arthur was raised in Quin and spent most of his career reporting out of Shannon Airport, from 1947 to 1997. Arthur settled on the North Circular Road in Limerick and died in 2012, just shy of his 93rd birthday. He retired at age 87 and was Ireland’s longest-serving journalist, covering Shannon Airport and the Mid-Western District. For over 50 years, he reported on Shannon’s momentous, sometimes tragic events, and interviewed many international figures who passed through the airport when it was a compulsorily stopover into Europe. Among them were Hollywood stars, Grace Kelly, Cary Grant and Marlene Dietrich. He also interviewed every North American president, from Harry S Truman to George Bush, as well as Russian leaders. European royalty, including Princess Margaret and the Duke of Edinburgh, future popes and …

The Committee of Public Accounts will on this Thursday meet with representatives from the Shannon Free Airport Development Company to consider its 2013 accounts. Neil Pakey, CEO of Shannon Airport and Stephen Curran of the Department of Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation will be appearing before the Committee in the afternoon. Following the announcement that Shannon Development would merge with Shannon Airport in 2012, the enterprise functions transferred to Enterprise Ireland and IDA Ireland, with the tourism functions transferring to Fá;ilte Ireland. Shannon Group plc was formally created last month.

The Restaurant Association of Ireland has said 547 new jobs have been created in the food, tourism and hospitality sectors in Clare since the reduced VAT rate of 9% was introduced in July 2011. To highlight the scale of job creation, a new report compares the number of direct new jobs to a major local employer, revealing that the 547 extra jobs created in Clare is more than double the number of employees also employed in Clare by Shannon Airport. Speaking about the success of the reduced VAT rate, Adrian Cummins, chief executive of the Restaurants Association of Ireland, said, “As this report proves, in terms of creating new jobs in the food and accommodation sector, the introduction of the new VAT rate in July 2011 has been a major driver of local employment growth. 547 new direct jobs have been created in Clare alone, with 21,633 new direct jobs created across the whole country. “This is a very conservative …

Ties between the West of Ireland and the Boston area deepened this Friday as the newly elected Mayor of the most Irish city in the US, Marty Walsh, began his Irish homecoming’ with a business breakfast at Shannon Airport. Hosted by the Shannon Group plc, the event was attended by over 125 people drawn from the business community, among them representatives of leading US multi-nationals with operations across the West and South of Ireland, cathaoirligh and mayors from several counties, as well as members of Mayor Walsh’s extended family, including his mother Mary, and friends from Connemara. Welcoming Mayor Walsh to Shannon Airport, Group Chairman Rose Hynes said that his visit – his first international trip since being sworn in last January – will only serve to strengthen links between the Boston/Massachusetts region and the West of Ireland . The importance of these links is signified by the presence in Shannon of the first citizens of so many counties and cities …

Al Worden, who landed at Shannon Airport this Tuesday evening, was one of 19 astronauts selected by NASA in 1966 and served as a command module pilot for the historic Apollo 15 (July 26 – August 7, 1971). His arrival at Shannon for a number of public engagements, including a lecture at LIT tomorrow evening and a dinner at the Pavilion UL on the 17th, is all down to a self-confessed space fanatic, Paul Ryan from Ballybricken, Limerick reaching for his own stars to fulfil a bucket-list he drew up after two cardiac incidents at the age of 37. “I have had a fascination with space since I was a young boy and dreamed then of becoming an astronaut but that never happened, of course. I did get to live in the States later on and went to the NASA locations so they were huge moments. “The real trigger for doing this, however, was I had two cardiac incidents four years ago and our second child was born …

Revenue has seized 18kgs of tobacco at Shannon Airport this Thursday morning. The seizure was made as a result of routine profiling when officers from Revenue’s Customs Services at Shannon Airport discovered 18kgs of roll your own tobacco with a retail value of approximately €7,000. The “Amber Leaf” tobacco was discovered in the luggage of an Irish male who had arrived on a flight from Tenerife. Investigations are ongoing and a file is being prepared with a view to a prosecution. The seizure represents a potential loss to the Exchequer of €5,800. This is assuming that it would have displaced the equivalent full tax paid quantity of cigarettes and tobacco. This seizure is part of Revenue’s on-going operations targeting the supply and sale of illegal cigarettes in the shadow economy. If businesses or members of the public have any information regarding the smuggling or sale of illegal cigarettes or tobacco, they can contact Revenue in confidence on free phone number …

SPACE enthusiasts countrywide and from the UK are set to descend on Limerick to get a rare audience with one of just 24 people to have flown to the moon. Al Worden, who was one of 19 astronauts selected by NASA in 1966, served as a command module pilot for the historic Apollo 15 (July 26 – August 7, 1971), and is seen very much as one of the icons of space travel. His visit to Ireland for a lecture at LIT next Tuesday  and a dinner at the Pavilion UL the following day, is all down to one self-confessed Limerick space fanatic, Paul Ryan from Ballybricken, reaching for his own stars and, completely off his own bat, managing to connect with Worden and secure him for the two special events. And speaking this week, Ryan explained that he had a double motivation for getting Worden to come to Ireland: his life-long fascination with space, combined with it being the …

CATHAOIRLEACH of Clare County Council, John Crowe says Shannon Airport and the surrounding Free Zone have “never been better placed than now to generate new business.” Councuillor John Crowe was speaking following the formal establishment by Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport Paschal Donohoe of Shannon Group plc, which brings together Shannon Airport, Shannon Commercial Enterprises Limited, Shannon Heritage and The International Aviation Services Centre (IASC). The Cathaoirleach commented: “Ever since autonomy was granted to Shannon Airport there has been a sizeable growth in passenger numbers and new services. Likewise, the fortunes of the Shannon Free Zone and businesses based there have improved considerably during the past 18 months. Furthermore, tourism figures throughout the Mid West Region are also on the rise which is no small part down to the strong leadership that has been shown by those behind the positive developments that have taken place in Shannon.” He continued: “The Minister’s formal establishment of the new entity will also …