Seeking to attract Boeing
jobs to West of Ireland

BY TERRY REILLY
email: terryreilly@westernpeople.ie

WILLIAM A. Thomas, the man who has been campaigning to have a new city built in the west of Ireland with Knock one of the locations mentioned, is now making a case for giant aircraft manufacturer Boeing to relocate some of its business to this country.

Mr Thomas, who represents Boeing in this country, is due to meet with Boeing Executives to discuss the potential of an Airport in Ireland.

"Boeing would like to re-configure certain aircraft, for example many of the 767 fleet are being re-engined and upgraded, 727's have come to the end of their passenger life and will be reconfigured with rear entry doors to make them cargo aircraft.

"The section of Boeing that deals with this has a $40 billion yearly budget and I have made a case for some of this work to be carried out here, but naturally people must want this opportunity on this side also and facilitate it," he told the Western People.

"I am looking at options in Ireland and expect to present those options to Boeing this spring on whether I feel they should invest or not in Ireland in a specific airport for the upgrade, reconfiguration program," he said.

"It is said when Boeing moves, 1,000 companies follow. This would be a very big and magnificent opportunity for Ireland and indeed the West, were it chosen for this project," added Mr Thomas who .said he was still awaiting responses from several authorities for information.

Mr Thomas was in Rome recently and met the Pope to explain his vision of a New City and what it will mean to Ireland and the World if built correctly.

He also visited several cities in Europe to see world-class architecture and to meet with Government officials from several other countries who have expressed a serious interest in building a New City according to the model as proposed by Thomas.

This week also sees the dispatch to New York of the designs of Thomas for the site of the WTC which was destroyed by terrorists on September 11th 2001. The competition closes on March 1st and Mr Thomas is confident of winning with his designs for the 16 acre site which will rise to 1,300 feet and will provide 10 million square feet of office space alone.

In terms of Ireland's National Spatial Plans, Thomas dismisses them as purely political "vote driven" and not good for the West, and says "they have completely ignored the fact that there is an International Airport at Knock, and the consequence of that."

"For me," he says, "the development of the Airport and the New City are linked and one cannot progress without the other.

A conference will be held in the Davenport Hotel in Merrion Square on March 24-25 when the Architects will have the New City project ready for display.

The Web site for the New City can be found at: www.newcityforthewest.com