Hello all,

I am delighted to share that we have almost reached 2,500 supporters in just over a month! We will be continuing to promote this petition in order to increase the number of supporters. Each time we reach a new milestone, the people that the petition is addressed to - including Bernard Davis-NL Minister of Tourism, Culture, Industry and Innovation, Jim Kelly-Ambassador of Ireland to Canada, and Ciaran Cannon-Minister for the Diaspora & International Development, Ireland, among others - will receive a direct email notification to let them know that another goal has been reached, and they will also be notified of petition updates, such as this one, via email and social media channels. Right now, we have plenty of traction on traditional, online and social media channels including coverage in NTV news, VOCM, and other upcoming interviews to continue to go from strength to strength. Are there any other people or organizations that should be added to the list that this petition will be sent and presented to? If so, please message or comment below.

So far, this petition has been liked/supported/shared by the Deputy Mayor of St. John’s, Kevin Vickers (former Canadian Ambassador to Ireland), singers Alan Doyle, Chris de Burgh and Damhnait Doyle, the Come From Away musical, actress Anne Marie DeLuise, the Newfoundland and Labrador Folk Festival, the Féile Séamus Creagh-festival of Traditional Music and Song from Newfoundland and Ireland, Dan O Hara Homestead - the Heritage Centre for the history and culture of Connemara, the Liberal MP for St. John's East, the President-Nova Scotia College of Art and Design University, O'Reilly's Pub-voted Canada’s favourite bar, Yellow Belly Brewery, the UnderBelly Speakeasy-Newfoundland's only Speakeasy, St. John’s famous Water Street, journalists from and contributors to The Irish Times, CBC and The Telegram, the Head of Communications for EPIC The Irish Emigration Museum- Voted Europe's Leading Tourist Attraction 2019, and many other people in Newfoundland, Ireland, and other countries - including Irish and Canadian expats, many small businesses, numerous practitioners and leaders in the technology industry - and many more!

Thank you for signing and supporting this! As a next step, please share this with your community and networks, or re-share this again further, so that a direct flight is reinstated between Newfoundland & Ireland. We need direct flights to Europe, elsewhere and better access to our province overall.

I myself returned home to St. John’s this weekend after a 3 week trip to Europe, during which I got to spend some fantastic quality time with my Irish family and explore the great history of Ireland further, including learning more about emigrant experiences to Newfoundland, in places such as Dublin, Carlow, Kilkenny, Wexford and Waterford. However, it took us over 15 hours to travel to Ireland from Newfoundland, and on our return trip it took 24 hours to get back! This is unacceptable - for families/community, for tourism, for business, and for the environment. As an aside and separate to this petition, I have also been added to the St. John’s International Airport passenger advisory panel. I will be sure to bring up this issue as part of meeting agendas.

��✈️�� Let’s get to 2,500 signatures and keep going! If Alcock and Brown could fly direct 100 years ago, and Amelia Earhart in 1932, we should be able to in 2020!

As one supporter has said - “Tá nasc mór idir an dhá oileáin seo”, which means, these two islands are heavily connected. “There is a huge link, both culturally and familial between the two Islands of Ireland and Newfoundland. Both on the edge of their respective continents, they thrive and survive in unique yet similar ways. The direct flights enabled people from both sides to come together, learn from one another, do business together and in turn create economic benefits for both populations. This direct flight needs to be re-instated.”

What are other people saying about this?

• The Mayor of St. John’s, Danny Breen says “re-establishing a direct air link to Europe is absolutely vital for the province.”
• Alan Doyle responded on Twitter about this petition and said that he “would LOVE to see that route back for sure.”
• A doctor currently based in Newfoundland wrote “I am unable to get home to see my family, considering (as a doctor) to leave NL for good.”
• One person from the Newfoundland and Atlantic Canada business community said: “Everything is impeded by this tremendous lack of access in and out...tourism...but yes all business... population growth... export... our voice at the table...competing from sports to spelling bees... exposure for all artists...our ability to advocate in Ottawa..everything.”
• Academics in Newfoundland, Ireland and elsewhere have also spoken out. One said “Completely agree a direct flight is needed, was such a shame to see it axed!”
• Regarding the lack of flight accessibility to/from Newfoundland in general, an engineering and technology leader wrote to me to say - “I don’t currently pass through YYT 6+ times a year, but I WOULD if we revived the direct to/from New York. I’ve gotten stuck overnight almost every single time I’ve gone through Toronto for one reason or another, turning what should be a 2.5 hour direct flight into a 12-18 hour adventure. I’m from St. John’s, but I live in New York and I work in the tech scene here. It’s also almost impossible for me to recommend that my American friends visit Newfoundland given how inconvenient the trip is. Laguardia is fraught with delays and high traffic during Air Canada evening rush hour, resulting in all kinds of connecting delays during the best times to travel around work hours (which we need to support for business travel). Anyways, I’m sure you know all of this! But wanted to help add some fuel to your fire. Personally, I’d love to be more involved in the tech scene home by coming home for events/speaking, but it’s just too complicated and risky for me to miss so much work with travel uncertainty. Not to mention the missed opportunity which is tourism interest here for Come From Away. I really wish Newfoundland/Air Canada would take a page from Iceland/Icelandair, and Iceland Air’s books, in enabling a free stop over to increase tourist traffic!”

Here is some other excellent coverage and contributions about our shared plight:

As writer, Edward L. Riche recently wrote “How can our tourism industry flourish if you can't get here from there?”
https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/newfoundland-labrador/tourism-pov-1.5206534

“Breen, Coady visit Scotland offshore wind farm as part of European energy conference” - CBC News: https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/newfoundland-labrador/danny-breen-aberdeen-wind-farm-1.5273005 

“Finding a New Direct Flight to Europe ‘Vital’ for Province says St. John’s Mayor” - VOCM News:
https://vocm.com/2019/09/09/finding-a-new-direct-flight-to-europe-vital-for-province-says-st-johns-mayor/ 

In a recent poll in The Telegram, over 90% of people voted that they believed that WestJet's decision to cancel a direct flight between St. John's and Dublin impacts the local economy.
https://www.cbncompass.ca/news/local/dublin-flight-big-issue-for-the-city-and-the-province-breen-262950/ 

“LETTER: Direct flight from St John’s to Ireland — we won’t go until we get one”, by Michael Boyle:
https://www.thetelegram.com/opinion/local-perspectives/letter-direct-flight-from-st-johns-to-ireland-we-wont-go-until-we-get-one-352153/