This article is from page 19 of the 2008-04-08 edition of The Clare People. OCR mistakes are to be expected so download the original SWF or the rendered page 19 JPG
in Clare when he dropped his bombshell in Dail Eireann by mak- ing a complete u-turn on Ms Ge-
oghegan Quinn’s decision and sacri- ficing the special status Shannon had enjoyed since it became a world hub for transatlantic air traffic in the late ees
A radical restructuring blueprint put forward for the national carrier, Aer Lingus, by its then executive chairman, Bernie Cahill, proposing the abolition of the stopover was put forward by Cowen in the Dail and endorsed by 80 votes to 52.
However, the decision had short- term consequences for the Fianna Fail organisation in Clare, with Dep- uties Sile de Valera and Tony Killeen resigning the party whip in protest.
This lead from Clare’s two Fianna Fail TDs was followed by similar resignations by the 17-strong Fianna Fail complement on Clare County Council. It meant that for a period of six months before the councillors’ return to the fold, Fianna Fail was no longer the majority party on the local authority for the first time in over 60 erase