Finding out if the aviation sector can take off is the aim of a €375,000 competitive feasibility fund launched in Shannon Airport yesterday.

The Government has said today that the separation of Shannon Airport from Dublin Airport Authority will create 850 jobs.

The improved weather forecast for the next few days at least offers some respite to farmers — and to Agriculture Minister Simon Coveney.

YOU may have seen the recent news coverage about the Government’s decision to create a new future for Shannon Airport.

Business and tourism leaders in the Mid-West have welcomed the plans to split Shannon Airport from the Dublin Airport Authority.

Transport and Tourism Minister Leo Varadkar has confirmed that Shannon Airport is to be separated from the Dublin Airport Authority (DAA).

The chief executive of tourism firm Shannon Heritage confirmed yesterday that he is hopeful of the firm recording a net profit in 2012 after moving towards a breakeven position last year.

IN the 1960s and 70s, Ireland’s Mid-West region was recognised as an international benchmark for tourism innovation with a Brendan O’Regan-led Shannon Development inventing everything from duty-free shopping to medieval banquets and from Irish coffee to the folk village recreations.

A FUND of €1 million to stem declining passenger numbers at Shannon Airport was announced yesterday at a meeting of key tourism interests in the mid-west.

The Dublin Airport Authority (DAA) has reached agreement with the Lynxs Cargo Group, which proposes building a new cargo facility at Shannon airport.

Overall employment in the Shannon Free Zone dropped by 4% last year but the vast majority of job cuts were because companies downsized, rather than shut.

FOURTEEN of the top restaurants in Limerick and the mid-west will offer an outstanding dining experience at exceptional prices as part of the inaugural Love Gourmet Week from June 3 to June 12.

SHANNON Development confirmed yesterday that the Shannon Free Zone recorded a net loss of 254 jobs last year.

IT’S a long, long way from Clare to France, but for 150 French schools that took part in a tourism project about the Cliffs of Moher, the Banner county now seems a lot closer.

SHANNON Airport has turned a corner and is expected to break even next year.

ONE of the very best opportunities we have to rebuild our economy is to make sure that we do all we can to make Ireland an attractive and satisfying destination for tourists, domestic or international.

FÁILTE Ireland and the Department of Tourism has approved €4.7 million for a major redevelopment of Limerick’s King John’s Castle. Shannon Development will allocate a further €1m.

THE chairman of the Shannon Airport Authority Brian O’Connell confirmed Shannon is abandoning its low-cost model, stating that it is unsustainable.

Aer Lingus today announced a new three times weekly service between Shannon and Paris Charles de Gaulle, to begin on December 17 next.

A top US global financial security firm is to create up to 117 new jobs in Clare over the next three years.

A NEW US-based commercial group has agreed to act as business ambassadors for the mid-west.

A PIONEERING E-Town project, which will encourage people to work from home, is expected to create jobs in Tarbert, Co Kerry.

LIMERICK rugby hero Keith Earls will line out in front of tens of thousands on St Patrick’s Day– but this time he’ll tog out in a different shade of green from his international kit.

Some 150 tradesmen, architects and engineers have signed up to use their skills free of charge to help distraught homeowners devastated by floods, it was revealed today.

Waterways Ireland has said that all of the Shannon is now in flood and that unprecedented levels of water have been recorded.

RUGBY legends Keith Wood and Peter Clohessy yesterday signed up to become Ireland’s first sports ambassadors.

THE head of Shannon Development – whose main tasks include jobs promotion in Shannon Free Zone and tourism in the mid-west – said yesterday that the organisation should not be on Bord Snip’s radar as it was self-financing.

FOLLOWING a big drop in visitors last year, a new strategy to market the mid-west as a tourism destination will be launched next week.

A SHANNON Development team led by chairman Cllr John Brassil has returned from a tourism promotion visit to the US.

THE Mid-West yesterday provided some ease to the prevailing economic gloom with the announcement of 99 new jobs in Limerick and Shannon.

Tánaiste and Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment Mary Coughlan has today announced 50 new jobs for the Shannon Free Zone.

TOURISM bosses said yesterday Limerick and the mid-west will benefit from a visitor spin-off out of the huge exposure gained by the city by Munster’s Heineken European Cup victory and homecoming celebrations.

THE European Court of Justice is to issue a ruling today which could pose a threat to the future of some jobs at the Aughinish Alumina plant in Askeaton, Co Limerick.

TWO mid-west visitor attractions yesterday emerged triumphant in an international tourism honours list.

TRANSPORT Minister Noel Dempsey yesterday stood by his comments that some claims made about the impact of the loss of the Shannon to Heathrow service were “exaggerated”.

IF the announcement by Aer Lingus that it is ending its Shannon-Heathrow service from next year is genuine, and is not a dangerous and cynical negotiation ploy on behalf of the national carrier, then the consequences for the Shannon region and the entire west of Ireland will be devastating.

EMPLOYERS from across the mid-west will gather for a bigr business meeting in Shannon tomorrow amid concerns that the loss of Aer Lingus’s Heathrow link will cripple the regional economy.

SHANNON DEVELOPMENT chief executive Kevin Thompstone, yesterday announced his decision to step down in the summer of 2008.

SHANNON DEVELOPMENT chief executive Kevin Thompstone, yesterday announced his decision to step down in the summer of 2008.

VALUE for money short breaks made the Mid-West the country’s biggest tourism winner last year.

The Irish Hotels Federation (IHF) today welcomed the ratification of a draft Open Skies agreement between the EU and the US as “a significant breakthrough”.

A new underground visitor centre for the 214m-high Cliffs of Moher will be opened today by the Taoiseach.

MORE than 2,000 jobs were created in the Shannon region last year, bucking a trend of heavy losses that saw industrial employment nationally dip by 2%.

Regional development must be prioritised in the new National Development Plan, according to the chief executive of Ireland's only regional development compan, Shannon Development.