Tag Archives: Shannon Group

EVEN as passenger numbers dropped at Shannon Airport in 2019, profits for Shannon Group went upwards. According to its annual report, which has now been published, profit after tax for 2019 was €21.637 million, up from €20.915m in 2018. However, 2018 had seen a sum of €5.8m spent on a voluntary redundancy scheme. Writing in the report, chairman Rose Hynes described the 2019 performance as “satisfactory”. “This is a positive result in what was a challenging year for aviation and tourism in the regions,” she claimed. Of Shannon’s disappointing passenger numbers, Ms Hynes wrote, “It was disappointing that after six successive years of growth at the airport, passenger numbers were down by 8% to 1.71 million in 2019, due mainly to the global grounding of the Boeing 737 MAX Jet on safety grounds. However, we redoubled our efforts to secure additional services and ended the year with the announcement of three new services to Paris Charles de Gaulle, Vienna and …

A NUMBER of the county’s top visitor attractions are closing until March 29, following a decision today from Shannon Group. The temporary suspension involves King John’s Castle in Limerick; Bunratty Castle & Folk Park, retail outlets at the Cliffs of Moher and Adare Heritage Centre, and also in Dublin Malahide Castle & Gardens; the Casino Model Railway Museum, Newbridge House & Farm, and GPO Witness History Museum. The suspension also includes Shannon Group’s medieval banqueting operations at Bunratty, Knappogue and Dunguaire Castles and its traditional Irish Night at Bunratty Folk Park. Mary Considine, CEO, Shannon Group said: “At this time the health and wellbeing of our employees and customers is our primary concern. In their best interests, and in line with recommendations from the Chief Medical Officer at the Department of Health, we have taken the decision to temporarily close all of our sites from this evening until the 29th of March.” Niall O’Callaghan, Managing Director of Shannon Heritage said: …

THE Board of the Shannon Group PLC has today (Friday) announced the appointment of Mary Considine as the company’s new Chief Executive. With over 25 years’ experience in industry, Mary is currently the Deputy CEO and CFO for the Group and has been Acting CEO since June 2019.     Mary, who is a native of Lissycasey, takes up the position with immediate effect.  Her appointment is for a seven-year term.  She is married to Éibhear and has three children. She is a qualified accountant and has extensive experience in aviation, finance, governance and commercial, having previously held a number of senior roles within Shannon Group. She was appointed Deputy CEO of Shannon Group (CFO, Company Secretary & Chief Risk Officer) in 2016, and subsequently appointed Acting CEO of Shannon Group in June 2019. Mary was appointed President of Shannon Chamber in June 2018.  She is also a member of the Governing Authority of Mary Immaculate College. Rose Hynes, Chairman …

SHANNON Group, which operates Shannon Airport, Shannon Heritage and Shannon Commercial Properties, has said that the hosting of The Ryder Cup in Adare Manor will be the single most important event ever for promotion of the region. Welcoming Government’s commitment on a licence that will pave the way for the 2026 event to be hosted at the stunning venue, Shannon Group Acting CEO Mary Considine said that in terms of global events, hosting The Ryder Cup cannot be surpassed for the region. “To secure one of the biggest and most prestigious sporting events in the world is not just a phenomenal achievement for Adare Manor but an incredible boost for this region. The beauty of this is that it’s not just the event itself in 2026 but it is the build-up, starting from today, that will shine a spotlight on the incredible offering that Adare Manor and this region has. “It doesn’t get better than this for the region. It …

SHANNON Group got a share of stick at Monday’s meeting with the County Council, but at least one element of it was undue. In his speech to the meeting, Mayor of Clare Cathal Crowe criticised various decisions made, and also claimed that Clare’s local representatives had been ignored at a recent celebration. “It was disappointing that the airport held a significant event just last week to mark the 80th anniversary of its operations and didn’t invite the Chief Executive Pat Dowling, Councillor Gerry Flynn (Chairman of the Shannon District) or myself, as Mayor of Clare, to attend. “Shannon Group must do better to improve its working relationship with this County Council.” However some time later when Acting Shannon Group CEO Mary Considine responded to questions raised by members, she said that there actually had not been a celebratory event to mark the 80th anniversary, although Shannon had used the date to help with its own promotion.   Owen Ryan

AMBROSE Loughlin, a former partner at McCann Fitzgerald Solicitors, Dublin, and Stephen Rae, business and media advisor, have been appointed to the board of Shannon Group PLC. Mr Loughlin and Mr Rae have been appointed by the Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport, Shane Ross, TD, to serve on the board for a three-year term each. Rose Hynes, Chairman, Shannon Group said:  “Ambrose Loughlin and Stephen Rae are very welcome additions to the board.  Their experience will be invaluable to Shannon Group. Our new directors complement the board’s existing expertise and I look forward to working with them at this exciting and challenging time for Shannon.” Ambrose Loughlin was a partner for 22 years with McCann FitzGerald, one of Ireland’s leading law firms where in addition to client advisory work on financial services, he served in several senior management roles involving finance and risk. He is a board member since 2016 of the National Museum of Ireland and chairs its Audit …

SHANNON Group chief executive Matthew Thomas received a basic salary of €175,000 in 2018, along with other taxable benefits of €24,596. Mr Thomas also received pension contributions of €43,750, giving a total sum of €243,346. There were also business expenses of €13,448. He is due to leave Shannon Group next month and in the final annual report he will be involved with, Mr Thomas wrote, “2018 has been a positive year for Shannon Group. We have seen more passengers using our airport, more visitors enjoying our heritage tourist attraction and our property portfolio attracting more businesses to the region.” Regarding the performance of the airport, he said, “In 2018, Shannon Airport enjoyed its best year this decade, welcoming over 1.86 million passengers, a 6.5% increase in passenger numbers year on year. The UK and transatlantic markets were our best performers last year, both up 7%. During the year, there were 25,556 take-offs and landings from the airports’s newly-resurfaced runway, the …

LESS than three years after he arrived, Matthew Thomas is leaving his role as CEO of Shannon Group. He is set to take up a new position as CEO of the Ports of Jersey. Shannon Group Deputy CEO Mary Considine will take on the role of Acting CEO of Shannon Group after his departure in June. Since his arrival in mid 2016 Shannon Airport’s passenger numbers have increased, but the level of growth has been very moderate, reaching just 1.86 million last year. While this was an increase of 6.5% on 2017, it is not much more than half the numbers which used Shannon during the Celtic Tiger years, and the Clare airport’s growth was eclipsed by the increasing dominance of Dublin. Shannon is now way off the targets that were set for it as it separated from the Dublin Airport Authority at the start of 2013. On the industrial side, during Mr Thomas’ tenure there was significant investment in …