1. With the indulgence of Brian McDermott at Odyssey Of Quotes (superb website by the way, I highly recommend a browse), Eoghan H hits it out of the park:

"Neutrality means we sit on the fence, protected by America and the RAF in case of war, consuming a free lunch as far as foreign policy is concerned. Do we really believe that this kind of politically sluttish behaviour does not, at some level, diminish our sense of reality and damage our self respect?"
- Eoghan Harris, "Sunday Independent"

I swear that if this airport existed only to transport American troops we should be glad to host it, to pay something back to the country that literally saved this continent from itself on three separate occasions. At great intrinsic human and $ cost into the bargain (my view only, not necessarily Brian’s). Irish Independent Nov 04

More quality at: Odyssey of Quotes

2. With the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1989, the nineties were a rough period as Aeroflot scaled back their flights, and therefore their fuel stop-overs on the way to Castro’s Cuba. Also reduced was the very lucrative business of respraying and maintenance of all the various Antanovs, Ilyushins, and Tupolevs that berthed there (incidentally, the looney left had no problem with the Evil Empire™ using Shannon, in spite of the teeming Gulags of the time; ah well guys, there’s always Putin: The Guardian Aug 07).

3. 9/11 was another hit for Shannon & the region: Irish Independent Dec 01.

4. Only recently repealed has been the contrived, anti-competitive and traveller unfriendly compulsory stopover in this God forsaken spot: Wiki link. Possibly illegal as well, now that I think about it. I am paraphrasing a related personal experience of an announcement prior to disembarking at Shannon, but not by a great deal: “Be sure not to leave any valuables on the aircraft, especially your wallets and purses”. Leprechaun-related tat anyone?

5. Recently (Late September 2006) the only bar on the Irish side of security closed due to mismanagement. Irish Independent
I put it to you, that if you can’t make a go of a bar at an Irish airport, you should be in a rubber room.

6. Only bar on the other side of security is filthy, ill-tended and incredibly expensive. (and does not serve Heineken, IMHO the third reason why Amsterdam is cool)

7. Only newsagent / bookshop / drugstore on the Irish side of security closes at 9:30 pm. WTF??

8. A recent trip via Treviso Airport in northern Italy confirmed with me that it is a good example of how a small airport should be run. Might even be worth the tax-payer cost of a junket for the powers that be in Shannon to see how Ryanair money should be spent.


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