This article is from page 12 of the 2007-05-15 edition of The Clare People. OCR mistakes are to be expected so download the original SWF or the rendered page 12 JPG
THE bilateral agreement on air serv- ices concluded by the Irish Govern- ment with the Canadian Government on April 30 last is the “total sell out” of Shannon Airport according to Fine Gael election candidate, Coun- cillor Madeleine Taylor-Quinn (FG).
CUlr Taylor-Quinn labelled the de- cision “the final act of sabotage on Shannon by Minister Cullen and the Creuse ae
“Not satisfied with undermining Shannon on US routes, Minister Cul- len and his Fianna Fail colleagues quietly concluded an agreement with Laurence Carmon, Minister for Transport, Infrastructure and Com- munities, and David Emerson Min- ister for International Trade of the Canadian Government on April 30,” she said.
This agreement replaces the 1947 agreement that made Shannon the gateway into Ireland for Canadian airlines. Now that the Shannon stop- over is gone, flights from Canada can land in any airport in Ireland.
The new agreement has taken ef- fect immediately.
Cllr Taylor-Quinn added that “in- terestingly the new agreement came into place just as the election was called, with no public statements or announcements from the minister. Did he think the people of Clare could be kept in the dark until after the election? Has he any idea of the
damage he 1s doing to the airport and the region?” she asked.
The councillor said that the deal was “unnecessary” and poorly nego- tiated. “There was no push for this at all. The Government has diluted the significance of Shannon as an inter- national airport.”
She accused the Government of “total disregard” in relation to a similar agreement made with US ZNDU EDEL
‘The decision in relation to the US was reckless as well. There was no study on the impact these decisions would have on the economic fallout for the region. Shannon is the only airport which will be adversely af- fected by these deals.”
Cllr Taylor-Quinn expressed con- cern for the morale of airport staff and the wider community as mainte- nance workers are “fearful” for their jobs in the short term.
“While canvassing in the past few days I have met a lot of people who are upset and disturbed at the state of affairs with Shannon Airport. I also spoke to a number of service staff who are concerned about the future. If these flights go directly to Dublin there will be less need for services in Shannon. She added that “there is a complete lack of concern with the potential loss of jobs”.
She urged the people of Clare to take the opportunity on May 24 “to register their disgust with the current Government”.