Transport Minister has 'no intention' of locking down Cork and Shannon airports 

Transport Minister Eamon Ryan says he has no desire to see Cork and Shannon airports “locked down”. File picture. 

Transport Minister Eamon Ryan says he has no desire to see Cork and Shannon airports “locked down” and says a new travel advisory system should be in place by October 13.

Speaking on Sunday, Mr Ryan said the current system of restrictions relating to foreign travel “needs to change” and said the government intends adopting the European traffic light system.

“I have no intention to keep the country locked up. We need to retain connectivity, we need to retain air connectivity, because our country needs it for our business, for diplomatic work and for personal reasons. And people are travelling,” he said.

He said he wants air travel to be controlled and safely regulated in a way that health authorities are satisfied.

“I think the current system does need to change because I don't think we have full control over it,” he added.

“I think we need to adopt the European standards. I think we need to do both the amber and red category as well as the green one which we have done already. And we need to do that in cooperation with other countries, and get that agreement by the 13th of October,” he added on RTÉ’s The Week in Politics.

Meanwhile, at his party’s convention, held online, members narrowly voted against a motion seeking to establish two co-leader positions.

The result showed that 120 members voted against the motion, while 116 voted in favour and a further 16 abstained. 

Members voted against a motion proposed by MEPs Grace O’Sullivan and Ciaran Cuffe that would have instated two co-leaders for the Green Party as opposed to the current situation where there is a leader and deputy leader.

Transport Minister Eamon Ryan says he has no desire to see Cork and Shannon airports “locked down” and says a new travel advisory system should be in place by October 13.

The motion had proposed that if passed, the two co-leaders would need to be of different genders.

In advocating the motion, Ms O’Sullivan said that two co-leaders of different genders would send a message of “progressive unity” and be “in the best interest of the party going forward”.

Responding to the narrow defeat on Twitter, Mr Cuffe said he was disappointed the motion did not pass. "We’ve never been an ‘Uno Duce, Una Voce’ party. No doubt we will discuss this again," he said. 

Ms O'Sullivan said the Green Party “stands for equality and equal rights” and that if members could have voted to have Eamon Ryan and Catherine Martin as co-leaders in the party’s recent leadership election, it would have been the “dream team”.' 

“It’s time for the Green Party in Ireland to have a co-leadership with a male and female leader,” O’Sullivan said. Members who spoke in opposition to the motion voiced concerns around the effectiveness of a co-leadership model and the benefits of the public being able to identify one clear party leader. 

During another session on the future of farming and food, Senator and super junior minister Pippa Hackett said a simple culling of the national herd is not the solution to addressing Ireland's carbon emissions dilemma.