The Atlantic Connectivity Alliance today received confirmation that its application for slots at Heathrow has been rejected by Airport Co-Ordination Limited, the authority responsible for slot allocation at all major UK airports.

WHEN the Cabinet meets today, Defence Minister Willie O’Dea intends to raise the Irish Examiner revelation that Dublin Airport Authority (DAA) kept Shannon in the dark over the Aer Lingus move on Shannon/Heathrow slots.

Management at Shannon Airport is to hold an emergency meeting tomorrow to discuss the news that the Dublin Airport Authority knew in advance of the Aer Lingus decision to end Shannon-Heathrow services.

Key commentators specialising in regional development will gather for a two-day conference in Co Clare tomorrow to discuss the need for greater investment in areas outside Dublin.

The mayors of the Mid-West today called for thousands of people to join a weekend rally in the continuing battle to save the vital Shannon-Heathrow air link.

DEFENCE Minister Willie O’Dea said yesterday he would not attend tomorrow’s big rally in Limerick organised to protest at the termination of the Shannon Heathrow service.

Minister for Transport Noel Dempsey faced calls for his resignation tonight over the scrapping of the Shannon-Heathrow link.

The Atlantic Connectivity Alliance (ACA) has today expressed disappointment over the revelation that Department of Transport officials were aware of the Aer Lingus decision to abandon the Shannon Heathrow route six weeks prior to it being made public.

Campaigners in the mid-west say BMI's decision not to take over the Shannon to Heathrow route is a blow to the region.

Campaigners in the west of the country say they will continue their bid to get Aer Lingus to reverse its decision to end services between Shannon and Heathrow.

The Government tonight survived a Dáil defeat by one vote on its decision not to step in over Aer Lingus axing the Shannon-Heathrow route.

LABOUR leader Eamon Gilmore has called on Defence Minister Willie O’Dea and Government TDs from the west to take a stand with the people they represent in a Dáil vote on the Shannon-Aer Lingus controversy.

Mid-West business and tourism leaders tonight formally called on the Minister for Transport to ask the Government to call an EGM of the Aer Lingus board to discuss the axing of Heathrow slots at Shannon Airport.

Mid-West business and tourism leaders angered by the loss of Heathrow flights at Shannon Airport will today hold their first meeting on the issue with Minister for Transport Noel Dempsey.

The Government is being urged to intervene as a major shareholder of Aer Lingus after the airline refused a request from Ryanair to call an Extraordinary General Meeting.

CAMPAIGNERS fighting to stop Aer Lingus from ending flights between Shannon and Heathrow pledged last night to keep up their battle — despite the airline’s rejection of an emergency shareholders meeting.

The Government has broken its promise on the future of Aer Lingus by allowing it to end its Shannon-Heathrow link, Opposition leader Fine Gael’s Enda Kenny said today.

Fine Gael Leader Enda Kenny will today travel to Co Clare to meet business and tourism chiefs angered by the Aer Lingus decision to axe its Shannon Heathrow service.

The Government tonight pledged to do everything in its power to restore alternative Heathrow Airport services to the Mid-West region.

The Government has said it is standing by its refusal to interfere in Aer Lingus' decision to axe Shannon to Heathrow flights.

Members of the Atlantic Connectivity Alliance are in Brussels today to discuss possible supports available to Shannon Airport following the axing of the Heathrow route.

The fight to retain the Shannon-Heathrow link will be taken to the EU and through the courts if necessary.

AER Lingus chief executive Dermot Mannion yesterday stood defiant on the transfer of Heathrow slots to Belfast despite a series of meetings with the Shannon Airport lobby.

Aer Lingus chief executive Dermot Mannion today insisted the controversial Shannon pull-out would go ahead as he prepared to meet politicians and business leaders opposed to the plan.

The Government tonight dismissed calls from a senior Cabinet minister to force Aer Lingus to reverse its controversial cutback plan at Shannon.

A PROMINENT member of Fianna Fáil who heads the lobby group formed to overturn Aer Lingus’s Shannon/Heathrow decision has called on the Government to back the Ryanair EGM motion to reverse the decision.

Embattled Aer Lingus chiefs tonight vowed to carry almost a quarter of its passengers facing disruption during next week’s planned pilots’ strike.

A top industrial troubleshooter today called for talks between Aer Lingus and its pilots over the threatened two-day strike next week.