Folks, can I ask that you all consider raising the tumble- weeds at Cork airport when the TDs appear on your doors? It's about time that they saw some merit in addressing this issue.
Cork is now the only airport that can act as a gateway for two of Failte Ireland's major initiatives - the Wild Atlantic Way and the Ancient East. There's no excuse for it to remain as a distant afterthought to Terminal 2 at Dublin.
In my opinion Coveney is wrong and he probably knows it. Regardless of Cork's interest at board level in the DAA, that institution will still be run to the benefit of Dublin, and the detriment of Cork. The Minister will still call the shots, and it will always be very hard for people who are not familiar with Cork (like most of the Dublin based government) to see its potential. It is all about potential. Cork has the potential to be much more than it is. There is more than one city in this country. Despite popular belief to the contrary, an urban area with more than 400k citizens, is substantial. There are many comparable areas across Europe, operating at a far more impressive economic level.
A Cork Airport Authority would have the power to maximise the airport and the city and county's potential without worrying about the effects on Dublin. I'm no fan of Michael O Leary, but if he could take over the old terminal, make it a hub for Irish budget traffic and do 10% of what he's done for Stanstead, in Cork - should that not be properly explored? We need to be careful about seeing Self serving (and there's nothing wrong with that when in business, but it is a reality) business men like Leary as White Knights for Cork, but we also need to be wary of a State that is more interested in developing Dublin than it is capable of seeing any potential to expand any other local economy.
Please raise this issue. Things can change - not very quickly - but they change nonetheless. I often wax lyrical about Socialism on this board, but to be honest, I see local issues as the most important. We'll never change the ways of the world, but we can change the county we live in and how it interacts with that world.
