Brennan accused of Shannon sell-out

THE Government has agreed to a deal that will end the compulsory Shannon stopover, but which Aer Lingus says will double the number of Americans it brings into the country.

The European Commission yesterday won the right to negotiate flight agreements between the EU as a whole entity and the US when a number of countries including Ireland withdrew objections.

Transport Minister Seamus Brennan was accused of selling out Shannon without a fight. However, Mr Brennan insisted he was optimistic about Shannon’s future and there was no decision to remove the stopover.