Taoiseach under fire over failure to honour Cork Airport commitment

TAOISEACH Bertie Ahern came under fire last night as it emerged that he too had promised Cork Airport would be debt-free upon independence.

Former Transport Minister Seamus Brennan had given the original promise in July 2003 that Dublin would meet the debts of both Cork and Shannon when the two airports were granted their autonomy.

That promise was reiterated by Mr Ahern just a few months later.

In November that year, he told the Dáil: ‘‘It is the minister’s view that both Cork and Shannon have an excellent future with this debt-free start. He brought this view to Government last week and the Government agreed with him.’’

In May 2005, Mr Ahern reiterated that position.

But by July of last year, his position had changed. Asked during a visit to Cork whether the Government would meet its promise, he replied: ‘‘It depends what the promise was. The viability of the three airports are key. We are not interested in having one viable and the other two not.’’

Fine Gael Cork South Central TD Simon Coveney last night accused the Taoiseach of hypocrisy, saying the Government had sold out Cork because it was expedient to do so.

“There’s been an attempt by some in Fianna Fáil to spin this as merely a promise made by Minister Brennan acting off his own back,” Mr Coveney said.

‘‘But it’s clear this was a Government commitment. The Taoiseach gave assurances on the issue himself and then turned around and broke those promises.’’

Meanwhile, his party colleague, Cork North Central TD Bernard Allen, called on the current Transport Minister, Martin Cullen, to resign.

‘‘This is just the latest in a long list of calamities and disasters that he has presided over,’’ Mr Allen said of the minister.

“He should resign.”