© 2026 The Couch Critic
Status
Released
Release
1986
Runtime
52m
"We're building an airport!"
Directed by John Blackman, "A Wing and a Prayer – The Story of Knock Airport" follows the efforts to construct an international airport at Knock in County Mayo during the early 1980s. Originating from a 1981 RTÉ News report, the film charts Monsignor James Horan’s campaign to build a full-length runway in a remote, rural location, documenting the political resistance, changing governments, and repeated setbacks that accompanied the project before the airport’s opening in 1986.
16 Cast Members
Monsignor James Horan
Self - Knock Parish Priest
Charles Haughey
Self - Fianna Fáil (four time) Former Taoiseach
Pádraig Flynn
Self - Fianna Fáil Minister of State Department of Transport, 1980-81
Albert Reynolds
Self - Fianna Fáil Minister for Transport 1979-81
Jim Mitchell
Self - Fine Gael TD Minister for Communications 1984-87
Jim Ryan
Self - Airport Design Consultant
Michael O'Malley
Self - Mayo County Manager
Joe Murphy
Self - Jaycees International, 1981
Paddy O'Toole
Self - Fine Gael TD, Mayo East 1977-87
Barry Desmond
Self - Labour TD, Minister of State Department of Finance 1981-82
Frank McCullogh
Self - Airport Action Committee
Morley Safer
Self - CBS '60 Minutes' Reporter
Mary Donoghue
Self - Airport Fundraising Volunteer
Maurice Buckby
Self - Airport Director, British Airports International
Danny Higgins
Self - Managing Director, Celtic Air
Sister
Self - Nun
