Irish community campaigning for Knock-Newcastle air route

By Tom Gillespie

AN Irish comunity in the northeast of England have requested Ryanair to lay on regular flights from Newcastle-upon-Tyne to Ireland West Airport.

The Tyneside Irish Centre have written to Ryanair boss Michael O’Leary, stating that such a route would be well supported by them.

Castlebar native and Tyneside Irish Centre spokesperson Kevin McAleese said: “On behalf of the Irish Centre in Newcastle we wrote to Mr. O’Leary thanking him for the tremendous contribution that Ryanair has made in connecting the northeast of England with Ireland and the wider world, which is greatly valued by our community, many of whom are regular users of Ryanair.

“However, it is often the case that members of the Irish community here must travel to Edinburgh or Manchester in order to access Ryanair’s low-cost flights for services beyond Dublin."

He continued: “We saw in the media the great coverage of the 40th anniversary of Knock Airport. We would like to ask if Ryanair has considered scheduling more flights between the northeast of England and the west of Ireland, helping to strengthen the deep cultural and family ties that exist.

“If Ryanair were to launch such a service we would be among the biggest users and supporters of it.”

Mr. McAleese pointed out that the Newcastle ladies GAA are the most successful team in the UK, while the universities in the northeast are full of Irish people from the west and southern Ireland, who would avail of the service.