They are not happy down in Limerick… But as ever they have lots of links to other blogs… The petition against the move out is over 8500 strong… Fine Gael spokesman Pat Breen makes it clear why the good folk of the West reckon they’ll get a result on this;
‘The furious response in Cork to Aer Lingus’s more recent plans to axe flights from Cork to Heathrow proves that the airline will respond to pressure. Yet the lack of a collective Government response to the Shannon crisis means that thousands of business and tourism jobs in the Shannon region remain at risk.
‘I am urging Aer Lingus Chief Executive Dermot Mannion to respond swiftly and re-instate the Shannon to Heathrow services when he visits the region on Friday to meet with business groups. However, if the Fianna Fáil Government is genuinely committed to the development of the Mid-West region, it must take action soon.’
So Fine Gael, like Sinn Fein, is painting this as single ended story.
Only, as the FinFact’s blog notes, the decision, is, or should be, a strictly commercial one. And the business case for Shannon is rapidly disappearing:
O’Dea has compared Mannion to seventeenth century English leader Oliver Cromwell, the most hated Englishman in the history of Ireland. Abuse is easier than explaining where are the existing plans for an airport that is already depending on the temporary business from the transit of US troops for the Iraq War and is subject to loss of business from the EU/US Open Skies agreement? [emphasis added]
Mick is founding editor of Slugger. He has written papers on the impacts of the Internet on politics and the wider media and is a regular guest and speaking events across Ireland, the UK and Europe. Twitter: @MickFealty
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