McHugh's Miscellany: Miracles continue for Knock Airport

For those that were around when the late Mgsr James Horan, the parish priest of Knock advocated that the people of the west of Ireland needed an airport, it was much less a pipe dream but rather more a flight of fancy for a man whose aspirations had gone far and above his ecclesiastical calling.

He even had the temerity of masterminding Pope John Paul’s II visit to the Basilica in Knock back in 1979.

If ever there was a situation of trying to fit a square peg into a round hole, this was it.

We watched him wax lyrical with the then Western Correspondent of RTE, the late and legendary Jim Fahy and he even won over Charlie Haughey, who was later to perform the official opening of Knock International Airport, even though Garret Fitzgerald had become Taoiseach.

The feeling afoot in Mayo at the time was that Haughey had been much more generous in his commitment in funding than his replacement as Taoiseach and in this case anyway, to quote himself and some plagiarism from Shakespeare’s Othello Haughey may did indeed, have done ‘some service to the State’.

Opened in 1985 with flights to Rome, it officially opened in 1986, after Horan’s fundraising came up with the €4 million shortfall through draws and other events.

That even included a spin down the runway in your vehicle for what I think, was something like two quid, the prevailing winds finally came good.

It initially started life as the Connacht Regional Airport, becoming Horan International Airport after Mgsr Horan’s passing in 1986, who got little time to reflect on his achievement.

After that it became known as Knock Airport and thereafter Knock International Airport, before its most modern and rightful manifestation as Ireland West International Airport .

After graduation and finding work in the great metropolis, flying directly into Knock, from the UK, rather than Dublin, it always managed to raise this emigrant's spirits, knowing that someday, it would be a final journey to return back to the home turf, as it later did.

As well as Donegal County Council being one of its shareholders, I know that former Donegal manager and hotelier Brian McEniff has also served on its Board of Directors in the past.

Over the years I have used its facilities on more than a few occasions and have always been happy to pay the additional €10 development charge and reasonable parking charges as well, having been spared the trip to the capital or Belfast.

A buddy of mine from Ballyshannon even saves on that by parking up at a friend’s house near Charlestown, when he travels over to sunnier climes.

But for ease of access and generally less hassle, it now remains a firm favourite with a total of 21 international destinations as I learned first hand when I got to speak with its affable Managing Director of Ireland West Airport, Joe Gilmore this week.

We had a good chat but with 818,000 passengers flying in and out of the airport last year, you realise that the miracles have continued to manifest themselves at Knock and increasingly, our own county is hugely benefitting from accessibility to an international airport within a couple of hours drive, for a decent part of the southern and western end of the county anyway.

Passenger numbers from this county alone were 20% up on the 2022 figure and upwards of 70,000 passengers either come from Donegal or cite the county as their destination on arrival.

In recent years everybody from Pope Francis to President of the United States Joe Biden have given the airport a special endorsement that few other airports outside the major capitals could aspire to.

Last year, the addition of daily slots at Heathrow airport in London gave it a central axis connection with just about every major city destination in the world.

It is a real fillip for Donegal people who obviously are flocking to Ireland West airport than ever before and equally helped by a regular Letterkenny to Galway Bus Eireann Expressway service that virtually drops you a short distance at Departures and Arrivals.

And long may the miracle continue . . . .