Shannon Free Zone

The Shannon Free Zone is a 2.43 square kilometres (600 acres), international business park adjacent to Shannon Airport, County Clare, in Ireland. It is 18 km from Ennis and 20 km from Limerick. It was established in 1959, as the world's first Free Trade Zone, and businesses based on the site enjoyed special tax incentives on staff and profits until 2003. This attracted a large number of multinational companies to the area.

Businesses in the Shannon Free Zone (Shannon Industrial Estate)
Map of the Shannon Free Zone

History

In the late 1950s, Shannon Airport was almost entirely dependent on transit passengers and refuelling for trans-Atlantic flights. With indicators that commercial aircraft would soon have the range to bypass the airport, the commercial viability of the airport was at risk. Brendan O'Regan, the director of Shannon Airport, submitted a proposal for a special manufacturing zone with special tax incentives to be created in the vicinity of the airport. This would create employment and promote Shannon Airport as a destination for air traffic in itself. The site adjacent to the airport was established in 1959, with a second zone, Smithstown, following a number of years later.[1]

The Shannon Free Zone was intended to attract investment in exchange for tax incentives and tariff reductions.[2] While many of these incentives have since ceased,[3] as of 2019, there were reportedly over 100 international firms employing over 8,000 people based at the Shannon Free Zone.[4][5] Companies who have invested at Shannon have included Avocent, DeBeers Industrial Diamonds (Now Element Six), Kraus & Naimer, GE Capital, Precision Castparts Corp., Genworth, Ingersoll Rand, Intel, John Crane, Lufthansa Technik, Mentor Graphics, Molex, Illinois Tool Works, RSA Security, Schwarz Pharma, Zimmer[6] and Jaguar Land Rover.

Until 2014, the Free Zone was managed by Shannon Development, an Irish government agency. It is now managed by Shannon Commercial Properties, a commercial semi-state company and part of Shannon Group plc.

References
  1. Sweeney, Valerie (2004). Shannon Airport, A unique story of survival. ISBN 0-9547424-0-0.
  2. "Story of cities #25: Shannon – a tiny Irish town inspires China's economic boom". theguardian.com. The Guardian. 19 April 2016.
  3. "The end of the Shannon Free Zone 2016". ennischamber.ie. Ennis Chamber of Commerce. 11 May 2015.
  4. "Shannon Free Zone attracting inward investment to the mid-west". irishtimes.com. The Irish Times. 3 July 2019.
  5. "Shannon Free Zone for Nationwide feature". clareherald.com. 29 May 2019. Retrieved 27 June 2020.
  6. "Shannon Free Zone". shannonchamber.ie. Retrieved 27 June 2020.


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