However, concerns are mounting over critical infrastructure works as Uisce \u00c9ireann has indicated it will not fund water and sewerage upgrades\n<\/p>\n
At the latest meeting of Mayo County Council, members discussed the draft Economic Development Plan (EDP) for Mayo, which identifies the SDZ as one of the county’s most significant economic opportunities.<\/p>\n
Cllr Michael Burke said he was fully supportive of the project but cautioned that delivering it would not be straightforward.<\/p>\n
“It’s going to take millions to deliver that project,” he told the meeting.<\/p>\n
“Let’s not be dreaming around this room that it’s going to be easy. It’s going to take multimillions to see that established.<\/p>\n
“The part done to date is the easy part, but getting the infrastructure in there, water, electricity, sewerage and everything else that is needed. It’s going to be a huge problem.”<\/p>\n
The SDZ at Knock presents a unique opportunity to Mayo as one of only 11 SDZ\u2019s in the country, and the only zone located outside of an urban area. It is also the only zone co-located with an international airport.<\/p>\n
The SDZ is designed to support large-scale economic development, including aviation-related industries, hotel and conference facilities, and commercial activity.<\/p>\n
According to the draft EDP, the SDZ “has the potential to be a significant regional economic driver for Mayo and the northwest region.”<\/p>\n
It notes that the development could deliver “significant job creation” and identifies the location as one of “economic and social importance to the state.”<\/p>\n
However, the EDP also highlights significant infrastructure challenges. The airport’s water and wastewater systems require capacity upgrades, work which Uisce \u00c9ireann has not yet supported.<\/p>\n
Cllr Gerry Murray revealed to the meeting that he had been given information that Uisce \u00c9ireann would not be upgrading the services, and that the airport would have to fund the works themselves.<\/p>\n
He described the decision as “disgraceful” and urged the utility’s board to review it.<\/p>\n
“To the best of my knowledge, the rationale behind it is that the airport is a standalone commercial entity. It has no domestic element in terms of support and sanitation,<\/p>\n
“They have indicated they will not be funding it in any way, shape or form in terms of the infrastructure of the water or sanitation in Knock Airport,” he said.<\/p>\n
Westport-based councillor Brendan Mulroy used the debate to renew calls for the Western Rail Corridor to be prioritised alongside the SDZ.<\/p>\n
“The train service is vital, not just for Westport but for Ballina, Castlebar and for bringing people into our county,” he said<\/p>\n
“I’d ask the executive of this council, if you were to deliver a project that is on par with Knock Airport; get that rail corridor into Mayo. It will serve us all, and it will be a different county. It will open up the county completely.\u201d<\/p>\n
Cllr Mulroy said the ultimate goal should be to extend the Western Rail Corridor directly into Knock Airport, taking commuters and tourists straight to the terminal, adding that “the whole county will then take off.”<\/p>\n
Cllr John O’Hara drew comparisons with other regional airports, “I was in Cork airport last year, and I saw the hotels and the industry they had there, and we can do the same thing.”<\/p>\n
Mayo County Council is the designated development agency for the SDZ, and a detailed Roadmap for Development is now being prepared for August 2026.<\/p>\n
The plan outlines provision for over 150,000 square metres of new floorspace across 30 development plots and includes proposals for a 5mw PV solar farm, walking trails, cycleways and biodiverse areas.<\/p>\n
Councillors agreed that while the airport has been central to Mayo’s economic progress, the SDZ can only reach its full potential with direct Government funding and inclusion as a priority project in the National Development Plan.<\/p>\n
This article has been funded by the Local Democracy Reporting Scheme.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"However, concerns are mounting over critical infrastructure works as Uisce \u00c9ireann has indicated it will not fund water…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":88191,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[41891,61,60,3413,43],"class_list":["post-88190","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-ireland","tag-charlotte-davis","tag-ie","tag-ireland","tag-national-development-plan","tag-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/88190","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=88190"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/88190\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/88191"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=88190"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=88190"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=88190"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}