This article is from page 2 of the 2007-08-21 edition of The Clare People. OCR mistakes are to be expected so download the original SWF or the rendered page 2 JPG
FINE GAEL leader, Enda Kenny is due to visit Clare next week to dis- cuss the Shannon crisis with party representatives.
Fine Gael’s western parliamentary party members and Clare councillors are meeting in the Park Inn today to formulate their response to the situ- ation.
“We are planning a private mem- bers motion for the return of the Dail,” said Deputy Pat Breen.
“This study group is a typical Ber- tie quick-fix solution. We had a re- view group set up after Open Skies was announced and, a year on, that report is still lying on a desk.
“Not one euro has been spent in preparation for Open Skies,’ said Do etiaa isore
Fine Gael Deputy Joe Carey said the Taoiseach’s intervention “‘illus- trates his lack of understanding of the issue. I believe the only solution is to re-instate the Shannon-Heath- row slots. Connection to hubs such as Paris and Amsterdam, while wel- come, would not address this issue. These connections would not be financially viable for an airline to operate and would not provide the required frequency for the business traveller’.
Deputy Carey has also called for the Cabinet meeting of August 29 to meet in Shannon, as a sign of the
Government’s commitment to the re- ion.
“If the Cabinet met here in Shannon next week, they could hear directly from those affected by the decision by Aer Lingus to remove the Shan- non-Heathrow slots.”
Meanwhile, Independent MEP, Marian Harkin has questionned the strategy behind the retention of the Government share in Aer Lingus if it was “not prepared to act when an action by Aer Lingus seriously dam- aged the economic and social fabric of an entire region”’.
She added that the “Government’s continued refusal to pressure Aer Lingus on the Shannon issue begs the question as to whether its share
in Aer Lingus is merely a blocking mechanism to be used in the event of a take over bid”.
A meeting of Fianna Fail politi- cians in Shannon last week called for the Government to take whatever ac- tion has the best chance of restoring the slots to Shannon.
Junior Miunister, Tony Killeen, who attended the meeting, said that Taoiseach Bertie Ahern and Trans- port Minister, Noel Dempsey are “extremely annoyed at the manner in which Aer Lingus pulled this par- ticular stroke”.
‘What we need out of this is an out- come that guarantees Shannon’s con- nectivity with London well into the future, through London Heathrow.”