All-Ireland response best for workers

WHAT is the point of Defence Minister Willie O’Dea, FF and FG deputies, and Ibec, whinging about the short-sighted Aer Lingus decision to end its Shannon–Heathrow connection?

They must have known what could happen when they supported the privatisation of our national carrier.

After all, they had the lessons of eircom and the Westlink toll bridge in Dublin where vital infrastructure was exploited for maximum profits at the expense of taxpayers and consumers.

Ironically, before the election, Willie O’Dea claimed that Sinn Féin in government would set back the economy.

Now wages are lagging behind inflation, unemployment is rising and capital is flowing out of the State — often, as in the case of Aer Lingus and Bank of Ireland, to the Sinn Féin-governed North. To prevent employers from dividing workers, we need not just an all-Ireland economy for capital, but also all-Ireland harmonisation of wages, conditions and taxation. National agreements need to be truly national.

Dr Séan Marlow

90 Willow Park Road

Dublin 11