This article is from page 16 of the 2008-10-14 edition of The Clare People. OCR mistakes are to be expected so download the original SWF or the rendered page 16 JPG
THERE were calls last night for Clare County Council to fully sup- port Aer Lingus staff at Shannon ~ bu ola
The issue was raised during the monthly meeting of the council when councillor John Crowe asked that the members write to the Minster for Transport demanding that he ensure there would be no further reduction of transatlantic services from Shan- noe
“A lot has happened at Shannon
since I tabled this motion and none of it for the good of this region,’ he said, referring to the Aer Lingus plan to outsource most of the positions at the airport.
“There are 280 jobs to be lost there and these jobs cannot be lost to Shan- non’, he said and asked “where are the 22 airlines the minister said were waiting on the runways to come to Shannon under Open Skies? If there is any further decline in transatlan- tic services at Shannon, it will the death-knell,”’ he said.
Cllr Pascal Fitzgerald (Labour) said
that the “council as a body must sup- port workers at Aer Lingus. Only for Ryanair, there would be nothing left at Shannon. There are families who grew up in Shannon who are looking at leaving their homes.”
Cllr Brian Meaney said that it was the first time that the council had had an opportunity “to discuss what is a near fatal blow to Shannon Airport. This chamber needs to send a strong signal to the relevant departments and to the management of Aer Lingus in relation to the proposals on outsourc- ing. We have to deal with the pos-
sible consequences of so many jobs being lost. We have to look at this in terms of contingency plans.” Meanwhile, Deputy Pat Breen (FG) told a Dail debate on the situ- ation that, “the Aer Lingus workers at Shannon are the sacrificial lambs who are bearing the brunt of the Government’s failure to act last year to secure the Shannon to Heathrow service. Shannon bore the brunt of the crisis arising from the attacks in New York on September 11. Every time Aer Lingus gets ‘flu, unfortu- nately Shannon appears to get pneu-
monia.”
Minister of State, Tony Kileen(FF) saidhehasmadecontact with Minister for Finance Brian Lenihan and Min- ister for Transport Noel Dempsey re- garding the airline’s cost cutting plan. “Meanwhile, I have referred to Ms Mary Coughlan TD, Tanaiste and Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment in relation to the Aer Lingus workers’ future job pros- pects. I have also asked Minister for Labour Affairs Billy Kelleher TD to ensure that all of the worker’s statu- tory entitlements are delivered on.”