New Irish aviation lobby group
Those of you who are familiar with the Dublin Airport Forum may have noticed a thread running recently about a new lobby group, which is currently in the planning stages. What this lobby group seeks to do is to focus attention on Irish aviation policy - where it fails, what it misses and where it should be going.
Although those involved - currently a small group - are angry and frustrated at the lack of action or apparent interest, we want to do this as positively as possible. It would be very easy to get very bitter and hostile, but clearly, this would do no good. The psychology will be just as important as the issues themselves.
Among the issues we hope to discuss are:
- Bilateral issues (particularly the US and Canada)
- The runway situation at DUB (incl. the need to lengthen 10/28)
- General issues relating to aviation policy, for example the need to recognise its value as a contributor to economic growth and to make sure it achieves this goal.
There may well be other issues (including regional issues) which need to be added and we'll be happy to add issues.
We hope that by putting these issues on the table, presenting them in a clear and logical manner, we can generate discussion and pressure to develop clear statements of policy.
We would welcome support - particularly moral support - in trying to achieve this. It's quite easy, in the comfortable confines of this and other forums, to rant and criticise, but ultimately, it doesn't achieve much. We need to focus attention on the key issues. For example, in relation to the stopover, we're coming very close to the stage where the addition of new routes for next Summer may not be possible; do we risk writing off another year, or do we focus attention.
We don't want to engage in an angry debate; that only diverts attention away from these issues; we want to engage and discuss the potential of aviation in Ireland - which we believe is immense - and we want to be satisfied that the government is interested and committed. It is a learning curve for us, because although I've been in touch with several successive ministers, we haven't gone down this path before and we'd be delighted for support and advice (particularly on technical issues).