O’Dea refuses to rule out airline U-turn

DEFENCE Minister Willie O’Dea said yesterday he believes Aer Lingus is still for turning on the Shannon Heathrow crisis.

“I am not conceding yet that Aer Lingus can’t be persuaded to change its mind.” End game, he said, was a long way away.

“I am confident that well before we come to end game that this problem will be sorted out to the satisfaction of this region. That is my determination and that is my policy as the minister for the region. I can also tell you it is also the Government’s policy. In my view from the research and the contacts I have made it is potentially extremely serious for this area; the seriousness of it could not be overstated.”

And he moved to heal relations with Aer Lingus chief executive Dermot Mannion after comparing him to Oliver Cromwell last Saturday.

Mr O’Dea conceded that perhaps his comment was a bit over the top.

Speaking to journalists in Limerick, he also challenged his colleague Transport Minister Noel Dempsey over his claim that the Shannon lobby was exaggerating the potential impact of the loss of the Aer Lingus service.

Mr O’Dea said he hoped to meet with Mr Mannion and Aer Lingus chairman John Sharman when they visit Shannon tomorrow.

“Mr Mannion and his chairman are of the opinion that the situation here is not as bad as is being portrayed locally. We hope to convince them otherwise. We will do it in a reasoned, cool-headed fashion. We will sit down and try and persuade them that they are wrong and we will try to persuade them to change their minds. If they don’t change their minds then there are other options.

“Since returning from holiday on Saturday night I have been speaking to a lot of people on the ground and a lot of interested parties and I am happy with my original opinion that it is a very, very potentially serious situation for the mid-west.”

Mr O’Dea said members of the Government had been making strenuous efforts in recent days to try and make Aer Lingus change its mind.

“The Government has asked Aer Lingus management to come down here to Shannon to meet us and interests in the area on Wednesday. We will reinforce the Government’s message that the management mind should be changed. Until such time as that process is completed, if that process is completed and the situation remains the same we will move on from there.

“Let’s be clear about one thing: the Government is committed to attaining the connectivity Shannon has at the moment or between Shannon and a major European hub. That is the Government’s position also and it is especially my position because I represent the people of this region.”

Meanwhile, Foreign Affairs Minister Dermot Ahern denied the Government had any advance knowledge of the Aer Lingus decision or that it formed part of any Northern power-sharing deal.