The Irish Aviation Authority (IAA) has announced the recruitment of 12 trainee radio officers for its High Frequency (HF) radio communications centre at Ballygirreen, County Clare.This is the first time that the IAA has undertaken to train its own radio officers – most recruits formerly came from the merchant navy. Ballygirreen has long played a part in Ireland’s aviation story; HF radio communications have been provided to aircraft on the eastern half of the North Atlantic from Ballygirreen for more than 70 years now.
Commenting on the new jobs announcement, Eamonn Brennan, chief executive, IAA said: “This is the first large scale recruitment at Ballygirreen for many years. Despite the economic downturn and the consequent reduction in the number of flights, the IAA needed to recruit trainee radio officers so as to be prepared for retirements which are due to take place over the next few years.”
The recruitment process spanned several months and the successful candidates were picked from almost 900 people who applied for the positions. The final 12 come from across Ireland and from a range of backgrounds. The trainees will undergo a year long intensive training programme and once qualified their role will be to provide radio communications between air traffic controllers and the pilots of more than 1000 aircraft which cross the North Atlantic every 24 hours.
