EMPLOYERS WARN ON SHANNON - Two companies are warning that they are directly impacted by Aer Lingus' decision to abandon its daily Shannon to Heathrow service.
Last night Element Six, which is formerly the industrial diamond division of De Beers, says its employees face a very uncertain future as a result.
The company distributes diamonds globally from Shannon. If it has to deal with customers then it happens out of the mid west. There is a processing or engineering operation, a big sales and marketing division and much of the group finance takes place here.
General Manager of Element Six, Ken Sullivan, says the route to Heathrow is fundamental to most of the company's business activities in Shannon.
He says around 90% of travel inward and outwards is routed through Heathrow as that is where the connections are to the Far East, South Africa, and Europe.
He said that although manufacturing will not be impacted, the other value-added areas of the business such as support services, will suffer as Shannon will be very inaccessible.
He says it is hard to quantify the damage, and he is not scaremongering, but just stating that it is a major business problem for Element Six.
He says the company does not get tax breaks anymore in Shannon.
Element Six is not alone. The IT company Avocent, which makes technology including that which allow a single computer operator to control multiple computers from a remote location, spent $6m expanding its base in the Shannon Free Zone - employing around 160 people.
That division is one of five which make up Avocent Corporation.
Senior vice president of Avocent International Kieran MacSweeney says the company has followed the text book in terms of investing higher end activities in Shannon including the development of a facility to show case its technology to clients from across the globe.
He says that without the direct connectivity of the London hub support for those functions will be difficult to maintain in the West of Ireland.
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On the markets the Nikkei index of Japanese shares closed up 107 points at 17,029. Last night Wall Street with the Dow Jones up 35 points at 13,504.
The euro is now worth $1.373 and 68 pence sterling.
