This article is from page 4 of the 2007-08-28 edition of The Clare People. OCR mistakes are to be expected so download the original SWF or the rendered page 4 JPG
FINE Gael Leader Enda Kenny is due to arrive in Clare to discuss the Shannon crisis before the end of the Neto) e
Senior members of the party said that the leader, who is just back from holidays, was last night finalising his agenda for the coming week.
It was expected, however, that he would be in Clare by the week’s end.
Deputy Kenny is expected to meet with members of the Shannon
Airport Authority to find out what plans, if any, are in place to attract an airline with Heathrow slots to the airport.
When asked if the party locally would be asking Deputy Kenny to put pressure on the Government to vote with Ryanair at an Extraordi- nary General Meeting (EGM), Fine Gael Deputy Pat Breen said that any decision would be taken at national aoe
‘A lot can happen between now and an EGM,” he said.
Deputy Kenny is coming to the
region in the wake of a meeting of more than 60 Fine Gael politicians in Shannon last week.
The high-profile meeting upped the ante by calling on rebel Government TDs to back a Fine Gael call for a recall of the Dail to discuss the Aer Lingus decision to take the Heath- row slots from Shannon and bring them to Belfast.
The Fine Gael TDs, senators and local councillors called for a reversal of the decision.
After a two-hour meeting behind closed doors in the Park Inn hotel at
Shannon Airport, Fine Gael Chair- man, Tom Hayes issued an agreed statement calling on the Government to use its 25 per cent shareholding to rescind the Aer Lingus decision to transfer the slots.
Fine Gael TD, Pat Breen said the Government “has a 25 per cent shareholding in Aer Lingus and has an obligation to the region, whether it likes it or not.”
Meanwhile, the clock is ticking on the demand from Ryanair, as major shareholders in Aer Lingus, for an EAE