No way out

WITH the imminent demise of the Air France service from Shannon to Paris there will be no early-morning connection to mainland Europe outside Dublin (save for one heavily subscribed and overpriced Aer Lingus flight to Amsterdam from Cork).

There are also no suitable connecting flights in the morning from Cork to Dublin This is appalling neglect of a whole region and puts us in the category of Third World country bumpkins to our capital city cousins. One wonders how big business investors will view this lack of connectivity?

Transport Minister Noel Dempsey should scrap the travel tax to encourage more passengers to use regional airports and stop bashing Ryanair which, despite its crudities, does create traffic and business. With the right incentives and encouragement, the south of the country could start moving again. Otherwise we will all have to drive to Dublin and clog up the M50.