The Clare Champion Clare news, sport, entertainment and local notes
DEPUTY Cathal Crowe has that too many people who could have brought the proposed transfer of Shannon Heritage Tourism assets to Clare County Council to a satisfactory conclusion weeks ago “have dragged their heels”.
He told The Clare Champion, “I think the Department of Transport in particular and Shannon Airport Group need to step up to the plate here.”
He said that there was a certain level of hope for an early resolution however with Minister of State Hildegarde Naughton as well as cabinet members Darragh O’Brien and Michael McGrath all saying they hoped to have the matter resolved by Christmas.
However he said there had already been many missed chances and a failure to really engage on the matter.
“As I understand it at the moment there’s an over and back squabble between the Department of Housing and Local Government, which is the parent department of local authorities, and the Department of Transport, which is the parent department for Shannon Airport Group.
“From what I can ascertain the Department of Transport seem to be dragging their heels on this matter. Really if they want to divorce the Folk Park and Heritage sites from the Shannon Group portfolio they need to do so with some kind of severance payment but they seem to be unwilling to do that,” said Deputy Crowe.
The Meelick TD met with the protesting Shannon Heritage workers last week and said he felt their circumstances were very unfortunate.
“It’s awful to see the workers back out on the roadside. I think it’s insulting to them that they’ve had to resort to this and it’s certainly not where they want to be at this time of year.
“Bunratty Castle and Folk Park is usually a booming business in the month of December and we all want to see them back inside doing what they do best. But there’s an ongoing saga with the takeover of the site.”
Owen Ryan
Owen Ryan has been a journalist with the Clare Champion since 2007, having previously worked for a number of other regional titles in Limerick, Galway and Cork.
