Pictured, from left to right, are: Joe Gill, Author of the A Pathway for Irish Aviation report and Director – Corporate Advisory at Goodbody Capital Markets; Minister for the Economy of Northern Ireland Dr Caoimhe Archibald; Johnny Hanna, Partner in Charge of KPMG in Northern Ireland; AoIfe Gallen, Irelandia; and Tim Shattock, Irelandia.
A holistic approach to the aviation sector across the island of Ireland could unlock significant investment, supercharge the Northern Ireland economy and create thousands of highly paid jobs, was the key message from a special roundtable convened in Belfast.
Attended by the Minister for the Economy Dr Caoimhe Archibald and other industry stakeholders, the meeting discussed a number of policy initiatives which would allow the all-island sector to take more advantage of the deep aviation manufacturing capabilities in Northern Ireland, as well as helping boost connectivity and competitiveness.
The event – Seizing the Aviation Opportunity – heard from Joe Gill, the co-author of the recent landmark report A Pathfinder for Irish Aviation alongside Eamonn Brennan. That report set out a number of measures aimed at boosting growth across the all-island aerospace and aviation sectors and was commissioned by Irelandia, the aviation group founded by the former co-founder of Ryanair Dr Dec Ryan.
The report formed the basis for the discussion at the KPMG roundtable.