One thing worth saying is that I think it’s good that we, as Senators, attempt to elicit the views of people as much as possible – and in this case, I’m glad that we did this poll and reached out to councillors from all parties right across the country.

The story is here: http://irishexaminer.com/ireland/coalition-faithful-want-new-croke-park-deal-180562.html

With Lufthansa operating out of Knock Airport from May 2012, in a move that is worth an estimated €1m to the region, it is clear that this Airport is going from strength to strength. Indeed, in August, Knock had its highest number of passengers in a single month. Knock Airport is a good news story, and is a justification of our strategy of consolidating airports and ensuring that we have strong, viable commercial airports in each region.

Ryanair have placed a vote in Knock and the west of Ireland. Tourism is up 10% this year so far, we are laying the foundations to build on this success in 2012 and, personally, I hope to see another 10% leap next year.