O’Dea stands firm despite isolation

EMBATTLED Defence Minister Willie O’Dea refused to resign last night despite his pro-Shannon stance being abandoned by most Fianna Fáil Cabinet colleagues.

The only glimmer of support came from Gaeltacht Affairs Minister Eamon Ó Cuív and Green Environment Minister John Gormley as Mr O’Dea vowed to fight on within Government to save the lifeline Heathrow routes to the mid-west air hub.

After being isolated by FF high command and effectively publicly slapped down by a Government statement making it clear there would be no State intervention, Mr O’Dea insisted he could still persuade colleagues to change tack.

After an extraordinary two weeks in which he has openly criticised the advice being given to Transport Minister Noel Dempsey and compared Aer Lingus bosses to Cromwell, Mr O’Dea struck a less strident tone.

“Would it help Shannon or return the slots if I resign? That is the question I ask myself.

“The Cabinet consists of 14 people, I am only one person and I am entitled to my opinion,” Mr O’Dea said after a stormy meeting between Aer Lingus bosses and Shannon region politicians.

“When the Cabinet meets we will see if I was as totally isolated as I appear to be,” the minister said.

He added that he would be bound by collective responsibility if the Government retained its policy of doing nothing to reverse the Aer Lingus decision.

Some support for Mr O’Dea’s pro-Shannon stance came from Mr Gormley, who said the move was “not in line with Government policy on regional development”.

Mr Gormley stated that difficult issues regarding Shannon and Aer Lingus needed “to be teased out in some detail with my Cabinet colleagues”.

Pushing the Government’s tougher line to back the Aer Lingus switch of routes to Belfast, Foreign Minister Dermot Ahern said the Heathrow route was overrated.

“People have voted against Heathrow with their feet, and large numbers have gone to Paris, gone to Amsterdam — gone to other hubs, and that in my view is something that Shannon should be looking at,” he said.

Labour Limerick TD Jan O’Sullivan insisted Aer Lingus had left the door open to a compromise on Shannon and the Government should act quickly.