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Home Page 2 articles from Sunday Independent 14 Jan 2007 Minister Kenny rejected plan for second airport Opposition leader pledges new airfield for capital DANIEL MCCONNELL ENDA KENNY
and Fine Gael rejected plans to develop a second airport at The revelation comes as the country's main Opposition party leader pledged to build a second airport in the west Dublin area if elected Taoiseach this summer. In the document, an analysis of Baldonnel's facilities is included. It then goes on to detail how, in 1995, Ryanair founder Dr Tony Ryan proposed to develop Baldonnel as a second commercial airport for Dublin. It reads: "Dr Tony Ryan submitted a proposal to establish a second airport for Dublin City South at Baldonnel in 1995. In 1996 the then Government decided that the provision of a second commercial airport in the Dublin area would not be in the interests of the aviation sector and economy generally." Enda Kenny was Minister for Tourism and Trade in 1996 and now references his time in office as a "revolution in Irish tourism", despite rejecting plans to develop civil aviation at Baldonnel. Speaking exclusively to the Sunday Independent yesterday, Enda Kenny said: "Anyone enduring the crowding and discomfort at Dublin Airport today would appreciate the long-term thinking for our future aviation needs. "No one could have anticipated the monumental mess the current Government would have made at the airport with inaction over 10 years."With population growth and passenger numbers increasing rapidly, I believe that if we are going to plan for the next 20 to 30 years, we need to look at a second airport for Dublin after examining current resources and other greenfield sites." Baldonnel as a site is regarded as ideal for development due to its location on the Naas Road and its proximity to the M50 and Luas. It boasts ample room for car parking and a terminal building. The document seen by the Sunday Independent also reveals that a second report commissioned in 1999 showed no reason for Baldonnel not to be developed. "The position of Casement Aerodrome, Baldonnel was considered in the Warburg Dillon Read/ AIB report 1999 which assessed the merits of a second airport in Dublin on behalf of the then Department of Public Enterprise," it reads. "No reasons to hinder commercial development at the aerodrome were seen subject to appropriate planning approvals." Under the 1993 Aviation Act, as a military facility, the decision to develop Baldonnel currently rests with the Departments of Transport and Defence. According to the document: "The Department of Defence was of the view that certain civil aviation operations at Casement Aerodrome could be accommodated without detriment to the military use of the aerodrome." However,
the Government has made no move to locate a second airport on A spokeswoman for the Department of Transport said yesterday: "The Warburg Dillon Read Report of 1999 does look at the development of Baldonnel Aerodrome, but it also states that: 'Government financial support of any kind to such developments should however, only be considered if there were compelling arguments that it would be in the public interest to develop a second airport. In our view, such arguments are not readily apparent.'" ----------------- Mansfield
warns the FG leader: DANIEL
McCONNELL JIM MANSFIELD,
the controversial owner of Weston Aerodrome, has said his Mr Mansfield said that when he bought the site he had promised locals that he would not expand beyond his "executive clientele". Rubbishing Fine Gael leader Enda Kenny's suggestion that Weston may be used as the site for the second airport, he said that as long as he was alive it wouldn't happen. "When I bought the place, I made a commitment not to expand beyond the executive market and I will stick to that. This place is like a hobby, a real passion of mine, and as long as I'm around it won't be a full commercial international airport," he said. However, he would like to see a second airport on the city's westside, and his choice would be Baldonnel. He commended Mr Kenny for opening the debate on the issue of a second airport. He stressed that his 250 acre site and 1,000m-runway were not large enough for a commercial airport. It would require a linking with Baldonnel and a rerouting of the N4. Last month, Dublin-born Ian Rankin, 49, was extradited to Belgium on five counts of supplying and trafficking heroin worth over €10m, destined for a notorious west Dublin drugs gang. The drugs were packed into cases carried by a 32-year-old man, who had intended to board an Irish-registered private jet and return to Weston, Co Kildare, when Belgian police swooped. The jet, owned by Mr Mansfield, was normally used by him and his business partners, but on this occasion it had been borrowed to replace a grounded craft. Mr Mansfield had no knowledge of the drug-smuggling. Speaking about the heist for the first time, Mr Mansfield said: "It was one of those unfortunate things. We knew nothing about it, and we were sucked intothe whole thing without knowing anything about it. The authorities in Belgium thought something suspicious was going on and they moved. It showed their information was correct." The colourful tycoon who owns two planes and has already invested over €100m in Weston, said that a large number of "very powerful" people regularly used Weston, to I "avoid the media spotlight". I He revealed that security checks at small private airports like Weston are scant, and operate on the assumption that adequate checks are made at point of departure. Checks are rare on airplanes arriving into Weston from within the EU. All flights have to do is provide a list of passengers to customs. "I have never seen an executive passenger stopped in this country," said Mansfield. |
