Civil servant ‘not misled’ over Shannon move

THE top civil servant at the Department of Transport has claimed she was “extremely disappointed” Aer Lingus failed to take on board the Government’s concerns that the opening of the airline’s Belfast base would lead to the cancellation of its Shannon-Heathrow service.

However, the transport secretary-general Julie O’Neill rejected suggestions she had been misled by Aer Lingus chairman John Sharman over the airline’s plans for transferring its Heathrow slots from Shannon to Belfast.

Ms O’Neill appeared before the joint Oireachtas committee on transport yesterday to answer questions about her department’s role in the matter.