Shannon Development (legally the ''Shannon Free Airport Development Company Limited'' formerly known as SFADCO) was an important regional development body for the Shannon Region of

Ireland Ireland (, ; ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe. Geopolitically, the island is divided between the Republic of Ireland (officially Names of the Irish state, named Irelan ...

. Its area in the lower

River Shannon The River Shannon ( or archaic ') is the major river on the island of Ireland, and at in length, is the longest river in the British Isles. It drains the Shannon River Basin, which has an area of , – approximately one fifth of the area of I ...

basin comprised all of counties Clare,

Limerick Limerick ( ; ) is a city in western Ireland, in County Limerick. It is in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Munster and is in the Mid-West Region, Ireland, Mid-West which comprises part of the Southern Region, Ireland, Southern Region. W ...

, and the former

North Tipperary North Tipperary () was a county in Ireland in the province of Munster. It was named after the town of Tipperary (which was in South Tipperary) and consisted of 48% of the land area of the traditional county of Tipperary. North Tipperary Coun ...

, as well as north Kerry and west

Offaly County Offaly (; ) is a county in Ireland. It is part of the Eastern and Midland Region and the province of Leinster. It is named after the ancient Kingdom of Uí Failghe. It was formerly known as King's County, in honour of Philip II of Spain ...

. Its key founder was

Brendan O'Regan Brendan O'Regan CBE (1917–2008) was an Irish businessman responsible for developing Shannon Airport, inventing the concept of the duty-free shop and transforming the Shannon Region of Ireland. He was involved in promoting peace in Northern Ir ...

. Shannon Development worked with, but was not an agency of,

Forfás Forfás () was the national policy advisory board for enterprise, trade, science, technology and innovation in Ireland. The agency was established in January 1994 under thIndustrial Development Act, 1993and was run by a board appointed by the Mi ...

Responsibility

Shannon Development was set up as Shannon Free Airport Development Company by the

Irish Government The Government of Ireland () is the executive authority of Ireland, headed by the , the head of government. The government – also known as the cabinet – is composed of ministers, each of whom must be a member of the , which consists of ...

1959 Events January * January 1 – Cuba: Fulgencio Batista flees Havana when the forces of Fidel Castro advance. * January 2 – Soviet lunar probe Luna 1 is the first human-made object to attain escape velocity from Earth. It reaches the ...

to promote the airport and region.

Shannon Airport Shannon Airport () is an international airport located in County Clare in Ireland. It is adjacent to the Shannon Estuary and lies halfway between Ennis and Limerick. With almost 2 million passengers in 2023, the airport is the third busiest ...

was built at a strategic point on the early transatlantic flying route, but with the age of the jet, its fortunes declined. In 1969 Aer Rianta took responsibility of the airport. Shannon Development was responsible for a number of areas of development of the region including tourism and industry similar to

IDA Ireland IDA Ireland () is the agency responsible for the attraction and retention of inward foreign direct investment (FDI) into Ireland. The agency was founded in 1949 as the Industrial Development Authority and placed on a statutory footing a year late ...

. The agency was responsible for Shannon Free Zone and National Technology Park on which the

University of Limerick University of Limerick (UL) () is a Public university, public research university institution in Limerick, Republic of Ireland, Ireland. Founded in 1972, as the National Institute for Higher Education, Limerick, it became a university in Septemb ...

is located. Shannon Town was also created and managed by the company until it was transferred to Clare County Council in 2004. This property transfer was the biggest property transaction in the history of the state. Shannon Development also acted as a landlord for many companies in the region. Companies that qualify, paid rent to Shannon Development. In return the company can apply for

Enterprise Ireland Enterprise Ireland is an Irish state economic development agency focused on helping Irish-owned business deliver new export sales. The aim of Enterprise Ireland is to help Irish enterprises to "start, grow, innovate and win export sales in glo ...

grant funding through Shannon Development. This constitutes a symbiotic relationship. The government reviewed the role of the agency in July 2005 and its functions are being realigned. Under the new arrangements, Shannon Development will have an enhanced regional economic development role with a particular emphasis on addressing the needs of the less developed parts of the Shannon region. It will also retain responsibility for the Shannon Free Zone industrial park. The existing enterprise support functions (carried out by Shannon Development in relation to both indigenous and overseas enterprises) will be assumed by the national agencies,

and

. Shannon Development became part of Shannon Group plc on 10 November 2014. To emphasise a more commercially focused property remit, Shannon Development was renamed Shannon Commercial Enterprises Ltd, trading as Shannon Enterprises.

Shannon Heritage

Shannon Heritage, a member of the group, is a semi-state commercial body responsible for operating tourist sites including the GPO, and Craggaunowen. In August 2019

Fingal County Council Fingal County Council () is the local authority of the county of Fingal, Ireland. It is one of three local authorities that succeeded the former Dublin County Council on abolition on 1 January 1994 and is one of four local authorities in County ...

announced Shannon Heritage were to be appointed to run the Fry Model Railway when it re-opens in addition to Malahide Castle and Demesne which they already operate.

References

External links

Shannon DevelopmentEnterprise IrelandIDA Ireland
*https://web.archive.org/web/20110721125013/http://www.irishpressreleases.ie/printer-page.php?p=1538 {{authority control Economy of the Republic of Ireland Defunct government agencies of Ireland

Responsibility

Shannon Heritage

See also

References

External links