Shannon employees send 2,500 protest letters to TDs

SHANNON Airport employees angry at Aer Lingus’s decision to end its Shannon-Heathrow flights have sent an estimated 2,500 protest letters to the six Fianna Fáil TDs in the region.

The employees’ aim is to increase the pressure on the six TDs to get the Government to intervene with Aer Lingus.

The Government holds 25.4% of the shares in Aer Lingus but has repeatedly stressed it will not interfere in what it regards as a “commercial” decision.

The six TDs — Defence Minister Willie O’Dea, Peter Power in Limerick East, Niall Collins and John Cregan in Limerick West, junior minister Tony Killeen and Timmy Dooley in Clare — will receive the letters at their Dáil offices this week.

The letters call on the TDs to make representations to Taoiseach Bertie Ahern, Tánaiste and Finance Minister Brian Cowen and Transport Minister Noel Dempsey on the issue.

“The Shannon London-Heathrow link is intrinsically enmeshed in the infrastructure of the west,” the letter states. “Without this link, we will eventually become an unemployment black spot where prosperity will be a thing of the past and the Celtic Tiger will become the Celtic shame.”

Chairman of the Shannon Action Group representing both Aer Lingus and airport employees Tony Kinnane said: “This is a national issue about national transport and regional development policy and ensuring the best possible level of transport connectivity for Ireland Inc. Shannon-Heathrow slots are at risk today, but tomorrow it could be Dublin or Cork’s turn.”

The action group also wants an urgent meeting with the six TDs “to seek assurances from them re their commitment to the region”.

Meanwhile, Fine Gael says the business community in the mid-west could end up as “scapegoats” for the government’s refusal to intervene with Aer Lingus.

Rather than persuade Aer Lingus to maintain the link, the Government has been attempting to attract other carriers to commence a Shannon-Heathrow service.

However, a news report yesterday suggested BMI had asked the Shannon Airport Authority to guarantee it 20,000 business passengers a year before it would agree to develop such a service.

The Government has approached four carriers in its efforts to find a replacement for the Aer Lingus service to Heathrow — BMI, British Airways, CityJet and a fourth airline that it has refused to name.

It is understood the Government has offered the airlines an incentive package, or “golden hello” to develop a Heathrow route from Shannon.