Shannon Burghers Have Had Their Chips

Or rather, if they'd thought about chips, they wouldn't be in this mess....

"If Shannon's burghers really understood how to grow the region's economy, they would have focused on the key infrastructure of this century, not the last one."

says Richard Delevan at this link.


The Captain.

New Mid-west Investment Promotion Video Launched

Yep, this is the reason we really need that air-link from Shannon to Heathrow for those "Captains of Industry"...



Skybagger

Choreographed Bellyachers

Justine McCarthy of the Irish Independent says:

"The choreographed bellyaching of Shannonside air travellers is hard to stomach. As suitors for our sympathy, they are about as deserving as the fox scared off by midnight shotgun blasts in the throes of a hen feast.

When corporations stripped away jobs, relocated to Tangiers, introduced yellow-pack pay, binned products that had won customer loyalty, and generally showed disregard for everyone but themselves, did the Shannonsiders utter a protest? Now a former State company is showing the corporate West the same contempt, and the rest of the country is supposed to feel sorry for them. Aer Lingus, after all, was Ryanair's fastest-learning student.

The mutual back-scratching that goes on between the corporate suits and the body politic has seldom been evident in such starkly cynical relief as in the past week. Willie O'Dea has felt it necessary to clarify his personal position, something no Government minister did, for instance, when former transport minister, Martin Cullen, justified the Shannon stopover for US invading military as "good for business".

Where were Minister O'Dea and his Shannonside lobby when Donald Rumsfeld gave US troops a pep talk in Shannon's departure lounge? "

The Captain.

Bums on Seats in Dail and in Business Class

All this talk of "Armageddon" because of the removal Shannon-Heathrow flights is despite the fact that economic growth and productivity in the region around Shannon has not been a concern for the noise makers before now anyway. If the mid-west is so attractive, then how come:

"Between 1988 and 2005 the regions' shares of total employment remained quite stable, but the mid-west performed the worst of all regions with the biggest relative share loss of 6.7 per cent. For the period 1997-2003, output per worker measured by gross value added (GVA) shows that the relative position of the mid-west region declined from 92.2 per cent to 88.2 per cent of the national level.

The broad message is that the mid-west's economic performance has been poor relative to other regions, even if we exclude Dublin. The absence of any significant foreign direct investment (FDI) in the region over the past six years is embedded in the above data. The dearth of FDI reflects the fact that the overall business environment is not as attractive as it could be."

Furthermore, successive articles in the Financial Times of late testify to the need for business leaders to *avoid Heathrow Airport due to delays and congestion - it's called the "Heathrow Hassle."

"London's status as one of the world's leading financial centres risks being undermined by excessive delays at Heathrow and the airport's sprawling layout, the new City minister warns today."

There are flights to the UK from Shannon already without Aer Lingus. Of course, given the above, perhaps the real reason for wanting the Shannon crowd wanting the Heathrow link back is the narcissism of the Irish "premium economy or bust" management types and politicians for whom a bum on a Ryanair flight simply would be, simply, beneath them.

Class Act.

The Captain.

Fintan O'Toole on Willie O'Dea

People, people, there is a God. Fintan has written something we all need to share:

"...the only lawful and constitutional way for Willie O'Dea to express ... dissent is to resign from the Government. Logic implies ... Willie O'Dea's behaviour over the last week has been utterly unconstitutional.

The levels of hypocrisy involved in all of this are stratospheric. The man whose job it is to defend the State has been flouting its basic law. "

http://www.ireland.com/newspaper/opinion/2007/0821/1187332235989.html (reg. req).

The Captain.

Some Captains of Industry

Anyone listening to RTE Radio 1 during the week would have heard some local councillor or other decrying the removal of the Heathrow service as being against the needs of "Captains of Industry" (what century does this guy think he's living in?).

Some "Captains of Industry" they are. Incapable of realizing that three flights to LHR was their businesses only means of survival by conducting a basic SWOT analysis that any Leaving Cert student could have done. That alone sends a large message to potential investors about the local "talent".

Unless, of course, they're exaggerating....

The Captain.

Michael O'Leary

You have to admire the master, don't you?

We're betting that he puts on a uniform and is one of the cabin crew on the RyanAir planes leased to Aer Lingus for their flights on Tuesday and Wednesday.

Love a man in a uniform, me.

Skybagger.

Shannon Reactionaries Losing Cyber War

It looks like the Shannon Atlantic Connectivity Alliance reactionaries are losing the cyber war already - no web site of their own, no blog, no e-mail shots. Instead they're using www.shannondev.ie as the basis for their cyber campaign. According to the web site, Shannon Development is a registered compnay. The directors are appointed by the Minister for Finance and the Minister for Arts, Sports, and Tourism.

Nice of ShannonDev to provide a forum for the campaign against the commercial decisions of Aer Lingus.

The Captain

A Tribute to the Peace Process

The planned investment by Aer Lingus in Belfast is a fabulous "peace dividend" that we should all be proud of. The "Cromwell" and "Armageddon" antics of the crowd in Shannon is a disgrace and plays right into the hands of those cynics who said that people in the Republic would run a mile if a 32 county Ireland was ever on the cards - because of the financial implications.

The real message for Willie O'Dea et all is clearly is that Limerick and environs need their own peace process to attract investment. Much of the publicity we've witnessed about the area recently would want even Iraqi insurgents want to run a mile.

Skybagger.

Bollocks

I see the Shannon Atlantic Connectivty Alliance (We are the REAL Atlantic Connectivity Alliance by the way) have provided the Sunday Tribune with a list of worldwide destinations that they say cannot be reached now unless the Shannon-Heathrow link is restored.

This list is incorrect and misleading. In addition, I'd be fascinated to know what business will be forthcoming from Halifax, Accra, and Casablanca (some of their listed destinations).

Shamefully, it seems that *those flights to Baghdad through Shannon continue unabated, but they don't seem too worried about that issue.

Anyway, it would be good for this Shannon crowd to experience a stop-over for a change - this time in Dublin.

The Captain.

Welcome to the Dublin Atlantic Connectivity Alliance

We are a group of American and Irish citizens dedicated to seeing that the Aer Lingus plan to remove the ludicrous flights from Shannon Airport to Heathrow Airport is completed. We are committed to democracy and free enterprise, as well as the Irish Peace Process. It's time to stop the ludicrous situation we have in Shannon at present, and allow Aer Lingus to follow the rules of the market and to maximise profits for its shareholders.

The Captain.