Connacht league flying high
10 April 2005The Knockairport.com Connacht hurling league has now been in existence for two years. Although the format is still only in its fledgling stage, it is evident for all to see how much the competition has grown in such a short space of time and the sponsors are more than happy with the way the new league is developing.
Maria Staunton, who works in marketing for Knock Airport told Hogan Stand just how delighted the company are with their sponsorship deal and revealed that it could go well beyond the current three-year deal that is in place.
Monday 15th December 2003 saw the launch at Knock Airport of the Knockairport.com Hurling League. Knock International Airport was delighted and pleased to announce its sponsorship of the inaugural knockairport.com hurling league in Connacht, which was ran off in January 2004 with the winners playing a Rest of Britain side in Birmingham in February that year.
A large crowd attended the launch and were treated to a fine reception by the Board of Knock Airport. Members of the Connacht GAA Council and prominent hurlers were also present. The league was designed to encourage the development of Hurling in Connacht. Teams that took part in the first Connacht hurling league included, a Galway Development Squad, NUIG, a Rest Of Connacht Team and GMIT.
Knock International Airport’s Operations Manager Frank Brown, himself a former Mayo county hurler, said at the launch: "This is an excellent opportunity for Knock Airport to be associated at an early stage with the re-invigoration of hurling in Connacht and the strengthening of the weaker teams in the region. Like hurling in Connacht, the Airport is also in the process of renewal. This is evidenced by the 25% increase in passenger traffic this year. We hope that there will be a similar increase in the number of hurlers in the region."
Maria admitted that it was a big decision for the airport to make, as they did not know whether the competition would take off, but to everyone’s delight it has been a huge success since it’s inception.
"We gave it some thought for a while and as soon as we agreed to do so, we knew we had made the right decision and everything went very well right from the start. The Airport got great coverage from the league and with more teams playing this year, it was a great boost to all concerned," said Maria.
College side NUIG, who defeated GMIT in the home final, won this year’s league. As a result of their win, NUIG were flown to London where they played a Rest of Britain side in the main final and were triumphant over the Exiles.
Seven teams took part in the league this year and it is hoped that can be increased over time, as both the Connacht GAA and Knock Airport look to promote the game of hurling throughout the province and indeed further a field.
"We initially signed up for three years but the success of the league could see us extend that beyond our current deal. The fact that there were seven teams taking part this year shows just how competitive the competition is. Counties who have had little success in hurling now have a realistic chance of capturing some silverware and the teams take it very seriously indeed, which helps promote league," added Maria.
Knock Airport itself has had huge success over the past few years and last year they recorded their best ever 12 month period as 373,000 people passed through their gates, which was an increase of an incredible 126,000 passengers from the previous year. The one time tiny airport has come a long way since being established by Monsignor Horan in 1986. The addition of new routes to Birmingham, Manchester and Liverpool over the past twelve months have helped the Airport become the fastest growing international airport in Ireland at present.
Along with the new routes, Knock International Airport offer charter flights to Lanzarote, Alicante, Gran Canaria, Majorca, Malaga and Lisbon, while Faro has also been added to the list of destinations for 2005. Throw in the fact that passengers can avail of skiing holidays from flights out of Knock and it is easy to see why the Mayo-based airport is growing at such a staggering rate in stature.
During 2004 a new departures and retail area was opened at a cost of Eur2 million, while Eur1 million was spent on an extension to the arrivals area.
Following this the Airport was awarded the ’Best Regional Airport’ Award by the Chambers of Commerce of Ireland’s Air Transport Users Council (ATUC). Earlier this year, Knock airport reached a significant milestone when the 3 millionth passenger used the airport since it was first opened 19 years ago.
"We have had a number of reasons for celebration over the last few years and the addition of new routes has given people more of an option. Our charter flights also cater for summer holidays this has seen a major increase in our passengers," revealed Maria.
CEO of Knock International Airport is Leitrim native Liam Scollan, who has been at the head of the company at one of the most exciting times in the airports history, while 100 people are employed on a full time basis at the airport that is based near Charlestown, Co Mayo.
At the moment five airlines use Knock airport as Aer Arann, bmi baby, My Travel Lite, Ryanair and Easyjet all commute to and from the Mayo based facility. Charter flights are catered for by a number of tour operators including Falcon JWT Holidays, Slattery Sun, Stein Travel, Panorama, United Travel, PC Promotions and Mayo Travel.
Maria is no stranger to Gaelic games having lined out for the renowned Carnacon Ladies football club and the Mayo Ladies senior football team, who she retired from only two years ago, having won two All-Ireland titles and also having the distinction of captaining the side to glory in 2000.
"I have been heavily involved with the GAA all my life and was fortunate enough to be part of a great Mayo team, while it was a great honour to captain the side in 2000. Nowadays I just play a bit of club football while I also help train the county Under-16 ladies team, which I thoroughly enjoy," said Maria, who has been employed at Knock Airport for the past year and a half.
The future looks very bright in the west these days on and off the GAA playing fields as Knock Airport goes from strength to strength, while the Knockairport.com Connacht Hurling League has been a mirror image of its sponsor in the two years that the competition has been formed and with smiles all round, it’s a relationship that looks to last for a long time to come.