IWAK OK!

<body topmargin=0 leftmargin=0 marginheight=0 marginwidth=0> <table cellpadding=0 cellspacing=0 border=0><tr> <td valign="top" colspan=2 height=90 BGCOLOR="#FFFFFF" TEXT="#080000" background="04b785a3.jpg"> <div> <FONT SIZE="5" COLOR="#000000" FACE="Arial" ><B>Councillor Keith Martin </B></FONT><B>     |    </B><A HREF="index.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Councillor Keith Martin "><U><B>home</B></U></A></div> <div> <A HREF="news21.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="News"><U><I><B><U>Back to news page</U></B></I></U></A></div> </td> </tr><tr> <td valign="top" width=210 BGCOLOR="#FFFFFF" TEXT="#080000"> <div> <IMG SRC="1a5966f0.jpg" border=0 width="150" height="111" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></div> </td> <td valign="top" height=390 BGCOLOR="#FFFFFF" TEXT="#080000"> <div> <I>IWAK OK!</I></div> <div> Mayo News 19th April 2006</div> <bR> <div> Dear Sir,</div> <div> With reference to the recent debate concerning the renaming of Knock Airport to IWAK or Ireland West Airport Knock it is, in my opinion, a case of a rose by any other name would smell as sweet.</div> <div> A case has been made in your paper and elsewhere that the new name is unsuitable, unattractive and confusing. There has also been some debate about the paying of the development fee of €10.</div> <div> The fact of the matter is that no matter what Knock Airport is called or renamed be it the “foggy boggy hill in Mayo”, Horan International or IWAK it will always be the Knock Airport; built by that extraordinary man Monsignor James Horan and we, the ordinary Mayo resident, will always call it Knock Airport. </div> <div> Adding ‘Ireland West’ to the title is only for the benefit of those abroad who don’t know where Knock is. For example Tours airport is known as Tours Loire Valley Airport, which tells us that it is in France in the Loire region. This is for our benefit in the same way Ireland West Airport Knock is for the benefit of those in Tours and elsewhere who do not know where Knock is.</div> <div> As for a €10 development fee for each flight out of the airport I would happily pay €10 a week, every week, for the benefit to Mayo and the west of Ireland of having our own International Airport. </div> <div> Yours sincerely</div> <div> Keith Martin</div> <bR> </td> </tr></table></body>