Tanaiste urges pilots not to strike

The Tanaiste, Mary Harney, has urged Aer Lingus pilots to abandon their plans to mount a one-day strike next Monday in protest at the company’s intention to begin compulsory redundancies.

Ms Harney said: "Any prolonged industrial relations problem would be very, very damaging. I would appeal to everybody to think of the future of the airline. I don’t think Aer Lingus could sustain a long industrial relations problem at the moment."