Update on Air Service to the Aran Island-Carnmore Site Feasability Study

Update on Air Service to the Aran Island-Carnmore Site Feasability Study published and available below.

Most significantly there is no mention of an air service to the Aran Islands from Carnmore and it is now past time for the Minister and government to take urgent steps to restore the fixed wing plane service to the Aran Islands from the Airport at Minna.

Last week as you know Galway City Councillors passed a motion calling on the Minister not to sign any contract.

Subsequently 16 politicians (three TDs, one Senator, two City Councillors including myself and 10 County Councillors) and one election candidate attended and spoke at three public meetings on each of the Aran Islands.

All pledged their support to ‘Muintir Árann’ and all were of the view that the Minister should not sign any contract.

More particularly and following pressure from ‘Muintir Árann, the Chairman of the County Council agreed to hold a special meeting to pass a similar motion to the City Council’s one and that meeting took place this afternoon. From what I now understand the County Councillors passed a motion noting amongst other matters that any proposed use of the Carnmore site for an air service to the Aran Islands for the period mentioned in the tender is not currently permitted!

Furthermore just yesterday all Councillors received a copy by email of the Carnmore Site Feasability Study which recommends that the site of over 100 acres at Carnmore be used as a creative campus centred on the promotion/enhancement of the Film industry and also the development of a complementary mixed-use business park.

While this is a very welcome development and one which requires further discussion and elaboration- it is significant that the use of the site as an airport is more or less dismissed in the report and certainly the use of the Airport for four years by a private helicopter serving the people of Arann does not feature!

In these circumstances, it is past time for the Minister and Government to confirm that they will not be signing any contract and that all steps will be taken as a matter of urgency to restore the fixed wing plane service to the Aran Islands.

You can read the feasibility study report by clicking the following link.

Carnmore Feasibility Study Report 21 09

 

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