John Perry (Sligo-Leitrim, Fine Gael)

I have no doubt that when the vote is taken for Taoiseach, he will endorse the Mayo man for that job. One can see the huge imbalance between east and west. I fully agree that there is a lack of development on the west coast compared to the east coast, and a lack of investment in Knock Airport, with its potential as an international airport. Given the potential of low-fare airlines, I will be calling on Ryanair to include in its hub Knock Airport, where there is an extensive runway and substantial capacity. As Deputy Cowley asked, why build a second terminal in Dublin when passengers could be brought to the west, to Shannon Airport but preferably to Knock Airport?

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