This article is from page 20 of the 2008-12-23 edition of The Clare People. OCR mistakes are to be expected so download the original SWF or the rendered page 20 JPG
WELCOMING the announcement Minister of State and Clare TD Tony Killeen said that the airline’s decision to reinstate the service was commer- cially based, just as the original deci- sion to end the service had been.
“Aer Lingus’ move to reinstate flights between Shannon and Hea- throw bears out exactly what I said in August 2007 when the airline announced it was withdrawing the Service; it was a commercial deci- sion. The commercial reality in the meantime has changed.
Aer Lingus needs to invest heavily in marketing the revived Shannon Heathrow route, according to Clare TD Timmy Dooley. He welcomed the announcement but said it was now “up to the airline to help ensure there was a strong demand for the service as they damaged what was a very successful and profitable route when they discontinued the Heath- row link last year”’.
Fine Gael’s deputy spokesperson on Foreign Affairs and Clare TD Pat Breen paid tribute to the Aer Lingus staff at Shannon past and present “whose sacrifices have paved the way for the return of the service’, adding that the final piece in the jigsaw was the “raising of the stakes by Ryanair in their bid to take over the airline”.
Deputy Joe Carey (FG) said the route should never have been with- drawn. “It was both profitable and popular, and I would hope it receives the full support of business and tour- ist interests once it returns. How (Aer Lingus) manages to steer its course over the coming months will be hugely significant for the mid west.”
While welcoming what she de- scribed as “the reestablishment of a strategically important service for business and tourism across the West of Ireland’, Mayor of Clare Madeleine Taylor Quinn said she be- lieved that Government pressure on Aer Lingus to restore the route had led to today’s announcement.
“It is my considered opinion that had Michael O’Leary not proposed to restore the Heathrow to Shannon connection in his take over bid for Aer Lingus that we may not have had this announcement.”
Shannon councillor and former Mayor, Patricia McCarthy (Ind) said that the campaign for the return of the routes “never let up, even when people said we were asking for the impossible. But it was the sacrifices of the Aer Lingus workers which made this a reality.”
Sean O Neachtain MEP, a member of the transport committee in the Eu- ropean Parliament said the decision “will help to develop inward invest- ment opportunities for the mid-west region and it will help to develop greater tourism opportunities.”
“IT would urge all of the interests in Shannon who worked so hard to retain the Shannon/Heathrow serv- ice, to demand a minimum five year foaue-Ne-DalKeromOet-LMmLMAY GUN Ml oLemm pOE-DUSIE-ND Olax! so that the major necessary devel- opment programme for the tourism industry in the region can be imple- mented,’ Marian Harkin MEP said.