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Opportunity Knocked
It’s an aviation phenomenon — an airport created out of nothing some 25 years ago which experts predicted was bound to fail. But against all odds Knock Airport has really taken off — thanks, in part, to the Irish community in Britain. Malcolm Rogers explains why.
 Knock is today the site of one of the world’s major Marian shrines. Over 1million pilgrims come here annually to worship at the place where, on August 21, 1879, 15 people saw a vision of the Blessed Virgin, St. Joseph, and St. John. This startling event took place at the gable end of the local church.
The vision was subsequently declared genuine following a commission of enquiry organised by the local Archbishop.
It was against this background that the local priest, Monsignor James Horan, came up with his own vision — an international airport to facilitate the millions of the Faithful who wanted to visit this hallowed spot.
Work duly began some 25 years ago —but it wasn’t straightforward, by any manner of means. However the wily Monsignor Horan knew about the vicissitudes of building an airport, and took appropriate action — such as beginning the runway from both ends, so that some future transport minister couldn’t step in and say, OK, we’re going to have a shorter one!
Against all the odds, Horan International Airport — now Knock Airport — has proved to be a huge success, and today it boasts flights to Gatwick, Liverpool, Manchester and Stansted, as well as further afield to the Canaries, Lanzarote, Malaga and Faro.
Overseeing this terrific expansion in the airport is Liam Scollon, a Leitrim man who was brought up on a farm not that far from the airport.
“Ireland was a very different place back then,” says Liam, “with air travel only for the privileged few. Nowadays it’s as commonplace as taking a bus, and we’ve tapped into that. A lot of the traffic to Knock, in fact, hasn’t been pilgrims arriving to see the Shrine —although that certainly happens. But the bulk of our traffic is to do with the Irish-in-Britain population. People working in Ireland popping home for the weekend, or people here popping over to visit their families and have a few days in Britain.
“We’ve also opened up the holiday routes to mainland Europe as well, and they’re proving very popular.”
Liam himself has first hand experience of living in Britain — he even went as far as marrying an Englishwoman! After graduating from Maynooth with a degree in Irish and maths, he went on to work in local development. In 1985 this career path took him to Birmingham, moving on the Derbyshire, then Mansfield. “I worked for Mansfield District Council as head of economic development before setting up in business for myself.”
During this period, although his business interests kept him very busy, Liam had time to put his melodeon playing prowess to good use — he used to play in a band call the JJ Galway Band. “It was Pogues type of stuff,” explains Liam, “we used to do the O’Neill’s pubs and that kind of thing.”
In 1997, with a young family, Liam decided to return home. He got the job as chief executive of the Western Development Commission, a newly established state body for the development of Connacht, Donegal and Clare. The Leitrim man is proud of that move from Britain back home: “I came back home and was able to get a really influential job on the merits of what I had achieved in Britain. It was a moment I felt very proud — and I was determined to do what I could for this area which hasn’t always enjoyed the best of fortunes.”
One of Liam’s customers at the Western Development Commission back then was Knock Airport. Following a conversation one day with Joe Kennedy chairman of Knock Airport, Liam realised that the way to truly develop the west was to make sure the airport was running at full throttle. So he became CEO of Knock Airport, since when it has gone from strength to strength.
For most of the airport’s last 19 years passenger figures have been less than 200,000 per year. But in the last three years that figure has doubled, and in 2005 will be well in excess of 500,000 passengers. Small wonder that Knock won the Best Regional Airport Award in 2004. The Award, says Liam, was not just because the airport situated in a beautiful part of the country, neither was there any — as far as he knows — heavenly intervention. “It was based on sound business observations. It was a reflection of the quality of service we offer, and is a complete justification for the existence of the airport. And with Dublin Airport now so overcrowded, it is essential to have a modern, efficient airport in the west of the country.”
The future of Knock Airport is now secure, and it has brought the west of Ireland closer to the people of Britain, who are now the main customers. It has also helped develop the tourist trade in Mayo, bringing pilgrims to the Marian Shrine. Monsignor James Horan, who now takes his eternal repose, will undoubtedly be looking down on Liam Scollon kindly, and reflecting that his airport couldn’t be in better hands.
 Name: Liam Scollon
Place of birth: Leitrim
Age: 44
Married to: Margaret (from Surrey)
Children: Hanna (16), Eileen (14), Bríd (10)
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