PROGRESS for the Shannon Town Centre Masterplan and a rail link to Shannon Airport are two key parts of infrastructure that can bring the town to the next level, the President of Shannon Chamber, Mark Nolan has said.
After 36 years and 29 years as General Manager and Managing Director respectively at Dromoland Castle, Mark Nolan is keen to replicate success in his role as President of Shannon Chamber which he took on last April.
Taking over the reins from ex officio Eoin Gavin when the Chamber was mid-way through the delivery of its Strategic Plan 2023-2026, Mark has a clear vision for what he wants to see achieved during his tenure.
Shannon Chamber has always been active in supporting industries in the region and serving as a strong lobbying group, he maintains. Its “proactive relationship” with local councillors, TDs and Ministers is a strength but he stressed the importance of successful outcomes to the Chamber’s lobbying efforts as a key barometer of the value of its advocacy activity.
Citing the announcement
this week that Shannon Airport is now included in the new Regional Airports Programme 2026-2030, as most welcome, he says that this is something that the Chamber has been relentlessly lobbying for since 2019.
“We have not yet seen the type of results we need on other areas we are lobbying on, for example, the level of critical infrastructure that Shannon needs to improve the liveability aspects of the town, which is essential to attracting, retaining top talent and foreign direct investment in the area.
“We have ongoing linkages with our local authority and elected representatives on progressing plans for developing Shannon, particularly the OneShannonHub element of the Shannon Town Centre Masterplan, which, although launched in 2022 has not progressed.
“We will maintain proactive discussion until such time as we see positive outcomes for Shannon. I guess having spent my working life in the private sector, working closely with the six-member Board to maintain Dromoland Castle’s sterling reputation as one of Europe’s finest resorts, my benchmark for progress is successful and quantifiable deliverables.
“That environment was one I got a little bit spoilt in, I’ve experienced it before in other elements when I was sitting on the board of Shannon Airport. I found that inability to make decisions with layers and layers, I’m not used to dealing with layers and layers so maybe that is why the lack of progress for making Shannon a better place to live frustrates me, as I’m sure it does for everyone in Shannon.
“Shannon has so many wonderful attributes including a great golf course sitting on the estuary. That’s why we proactively contribute to consultations on the Shannon Town & Environs Flood Relief Scheme. The timeline to its delivery is the mid-2030s, which, in terms of impacting other elements of Shannon’s infrastructure, such as housing, is considerable. Given the impact of recent flooding on the east coast, we would now place this at an urgent level for Shannon and will maintain our lobbying effort to ensure its speedy and effective delivery.”
The reality of a rail link to Shannon Airport is also something that exercises Mark and the Chamber’s board of directors’ minds.
“The extension of the rail line to the Airport would deliver so many additional benefits to Shannon. It is great to see the Airport getting back on its feet.
“A lot of extra routes have been announced, which is very encouraging. Everybody in Shannon will always try to support Shannon when they can; there’s a lot of goodwill going for Shannon. It is a great airport, a fabulous facility and we must be supportive of Ray (O’Driscoll) and his team who are getting it back to a very attractive proposition. The addition of a rail link would make the commute to the Airport so much easier, not just at a local level but from the region and beyond. Shannon’s catchment area would expand.”
Growing the membership base of Shannon Chamber to include more retail representatives is another aim for Nolan during his Presidency. “We’ve a super group of members; we’ve a membership of 300-400 businesses. I’d like to see a bit more balance. We really have no representation in terms of retail on our board; we don’t seem relevant, yet the shopping centre in Shannon has really come on, we’d love to have them more actively involved and unfortunately, we don’t. We’d like to be representative of every sector operating from and contributing to Shannon’s growth.”
Having become semi-retired in stepping down as MD of Dromoland Castle, becoming Shannon Chamber President was not on the radar for Mark. “Helen is a very persuasive lady, when she asked me I said I was semi-retired, I wanted to step back but I thought about it, she said maybe do it for a year and I bit that bullet, I suspect Helen has planned that I’ll be around a bit longer than the year, I’ve enjoyed it. I’d love to be responsible for a bit more successes because the ability is there to do it.”
Shannon’s future is “limitless,” he feels. “There is a lot of extra capacity there for Shannon Airport, if we could drive more accommodation, deliver the flood relief plan, get more housing into the region, create the catchment area and pull people back into the whole region because there is so much to do.
“It is an under-utilised area, and I think the Chamber could have an active role in terms of getting that over. I’m sure Helen will continue to keep the Shannon agenda to the fore.
“We’ve great local support and they all come on board when we need something so we will maintain dialogue with all strata in Shannon in planning for the future.
“The future for the Shannon region is limitless. If you brought someone in who never knew anything about Ireland and told them, there is Shannon, an international airport with infrastructure they would be calling it a golden nugget and asking why more wasn’t being done to develop its infrastructure.”
Innovation has always been to the heart of Shannon’s great minds and tapping into the creativity of the past is required in the present day, he said.
“Shannon has over the years been populated by wonderful very future-thinking people, Liam Skelly, Brendan O’Regan, people with a vision as to what it should be, setting up the Shannon Free Zone. It took people with a vision and people who wouldn’t take no for an answer, they made Shannon what it is now. I always feel very tangibly that I am only passing through; there is a legacy issue, and we need to do something to be as creative as they were and to leave our mark in a fabulous Chamber and try to get more of our goals over the line.”
