This article is from page 4 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 4 JPG
THE people of Clare have rallied be- hind the campaign to save Shannon Airport’s Heathrow slots with almost 12,000 people signing up to an on- line petition in just six days.
As of 6pm last night, Monday, Au- gust 20, 11,463 people had signed the petition to save the Heathrow slots on Www.petitiononline.com. This equates to one official signature eve-
ry 45 seconds since the petition was started last Tuesday, August 14.
The online petition, which is ad- dressed to the board of Aer Lingus, also allows signatories to post a comment on the site, with a number of people calling for a boycott of Aer Lingus should the slot be transferred to Belfast.
“The decision to pull out of Shan- non is an absolute disgrace. I have used the convenient Shannon to Hea-
throw route more times than I can remember and will not put myself to the bother of going to Dublin or Cork to fly to London, but will use another carrier instead. I will give serious consideration as to whether I will ever use Aer Lingus again for any travel if this proceeds,’ said one respondent.
Signatories have also been very critical of the role played by the Gov- ernment in the dispute.
“This is an absolute disgrace that our Government can say nothing, do nothing and allow the whole mid- west to collapse in one fell swoop,’ said another respondent.
‘The management in Aer Lingus are mono-visioned and bereft of sound ideas, similar to the management style of the HSE. I will not be flying Aer Lingus for some time to come, even if they overturn their decision.
“Amazingly, they didn’t cut flights out of Dublin or Cork but they knew that the Government would have act- ed sooner if that happened.”
The site also includes a number of testimonials from local business people who illustrated the damage that the loss of the slots will have on the local economy.
‘As a telecoms consultant based in Ennis, I use the Shannon-Heathrow route regularly to allow me to travel to international destinations. If this link is to go, I will never fly Aer Lin- gus again,’ said one respondent.
One signatory, who claimed to be a coach operator, commented that, “The decision will have very nega- tive effects on our business with overseas clients”.
To sign the petition to retain Shan- non’s Heathrow slots, log onto www. petitiononline.com/EISNNLHR/pe- tition. html