Shannon chairman quit af ter outlining his plan for airport
THE former chairman of the Board of Shannon Group resigned just three months after outlining his long-term vision for the airport.
Entrepreneur and founder of airline Aer Arann Pádraig Ó Céidigh was appointed as non-executive chairman of the Shannon Group board, a company that oversees Shannon Airport, by Transport Minister Eamon Ryan in October last year.
Correspondence obtained by the Irish Daily Mail details Mr Ó Céidigh’s long-term plan and subsequent resignation.
Sources told this newspaper that Mr O Céidigh ‘didn’t have the support of key people’ in Shannon Group, was ‘not kept in the loop’ and was ‘frozen out of information’.
Mr Ó Céidigh and Mr Ryan met on February 23. A month later, he resigned.
In his resignation letter to Mr Ryan on March 23, Mr Ó Céidigh said: ‘I have, following extensive soul searching on my part, decided to resign…
‘The role requires significant time input from the chairman, to ensure that the undoubted opportunities available to Shannon can be properly exploited,’ he added.
‘Unfortunately, as my role is non-executive and I have very significant commitments beyond the Shannon Group, I am not in a position to devote the time necessary to make Shannon Airport the catalyst for growth it should be for the west of Ireland,’ he wrote.
Mr Ó Céidigh was appointed on a three-year term, with remuneration of €21,600 per annum, and time requirements advertised as between 15-20 days a year and the attendance of at least eight board meetings.
The correspondence outlines Mr Ó Céidigh’s vision to grow the airport. On December 15, Mr Ó Céidigh outlined ‘key areas where we would welcome your support for Shannon Group’. The letter to Mr Ryan, sent after a postponed meeting between the pair, pointed to the ‘importance of airports in the regions around Ireland’, noting that 40% of US Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) is located within the airport catchment area.
Mr Ó Céidigh told Mr Ryan that Shannon Airport ‘lacks essential European hub connectivity’ as a result of Brexit and the pandemic.
‘Currently, that lack of European hub connectivity hinders and increases the cost of doing business for companies in the region and acts as a barrier for inward tourism. Linking Shannon to one or several major European hubs would support the region’s future economic development, attracting vital tourists and businesses to the region,’ he wrote.
Mr Ó Céidigh told the minister there needed to be ‘better public transport connectivity’ to the airport, and said since the express Galway to Limerick bus via Shannon had created a ‘disincentive to use public transport to and from the airport… there is considerable potential to improve public transport access,’ he wrote.
Shannon and Cork airports were admitted into the Regional Airports Programme (RAP) for 2022, but Mr Ó Céidigh urged Mr Ryan to allow the airport into the scheme ‘long-term’.
Mr Ó Céidigh said European Commission rules would allow Shannon Airport to qualify for the RAP if there was a change to government policy.
‘Such a move would assist the group to contribute to the region’s recovery and further economic growth and would align with the objectives of Project 2040 of balanced regional development,’ Mr Ó Céidigh wrote.
Mr Ó Céidigh did not respond to a request for comment from this newspaper.
A Shannon Group spokeswoman said the chairman’s appointment is a matter for the Minister for Transport and that ‘Mr Ó’Ceidigh indicated that due to other business commitments he was unable to continue in the role’. She added: ‘After two hard years, we have had have considerable success in restoring air services at Shannon.
‘Central to this has been the restoration of our year-round London Heathrow service – providing 20 flights per week, a range of European air services and flights to the US.’
A Department of Transport spokesman said last night: ‘There was ongoing engagement between Minister Ryan and Mr Ó Céidigh during his time as chairman.’
‘Hubs would help region’s future’