Shannon should learn to fly on its own

I WOULD like to clarify a few issues arising from Des Long’s letter headlined ‘Cork failed to match Shannon’s free zone’ (Irish Examiner letters, March 22).

Cork people never seriously objected to anything at Shannon until they became aware it was poaching Cork airport’s traffic by giving financial incentives to tour operators in the late 1970s. The awareness became very real when west Cork-bound tourists from Holland were bussed from Shannon, passing the gates of Cork airport en route.

This daft use of taxpayers’ money (via Shannon Free Airport Development Company) was a further example of how Shannon took everything that was going, regardless of the wider national interest.