Ryanair proposals - Ireland Inc’s credibility is at stake
Like the Lee affair, it is assuming an importance beyond its significance.
Government and private enterprise are publicly at loggerheads and it seems the possibility of creating 300 badly needed jobs might slip away. The credibility of Ireland Inc is taking another battering and workers who might have hoped to resume work are left as bruised pawns in an unhappy game of brinkmanship.
Yesterday, Taoiseach Brian Cowen was dragged into the controversy when his leadership on the affair was criticised in a Dáil debate.
Fine Gael leader Enda Kenny accused Mr Cowen of not being in charge and of allowing the Dublin Airport Authority to run the country. He urged the Taoiseach to call Ryanair’s bluff if he thought that they were not serious. Mr Kenny is right and Ryanair’s proposal should be tested and the results made public, unseen subplots and all.
On the face of it — and like nearly every other venture in this country appearances are often just a bit of the story — Ryanair’s offer was one that should have been immediately grasped.
It is hard to imagine that Tánaiste Mary Coughlan would have reacted differently, but if she did, her myriad critics will have another I-told-you-so moan.
She may have believed it was impossible to satisfy Ryanair’s demands — and that unquestionably is what they were — but it seems that all contractual barriers could have been dealt with to facilitate Ryanair’s plan.
Whether she, or the Dublin Airport Authority, pursued the original expression of interest from Ryanair with the energy it merited is a question that deserves an answer too. If not, that raises another set of worrying questions.
Equally, Ryanair must explain why they must have Hanger Six if there are viable alternatives. If there is not a plausible explanation, Ryanair will stand discredited.
They will have used their dominant position to undermine the DAA, the IDA and the Government as well as our international reputation. The stakes are now that high.
At the centre of this latest debacle is the issue that has all but destroyed our ability to conduct our affairs in a fair and honest way, in a way the might inspire optimism rather than cynicism — our credibility.
We all want to believe that the Ryanair offer was as straightforward as it is portrayed but we wonder what the subtext is; we feel that, as it stands, it is almost too good to be true. But we still want to believe it is as it is described.
If we do, the implication is that our Enterprise and Employment Minister is not up to the job.
The central issue remains the 300 jobs but much more is at stake now.
We need to know if Ryanair led the Government up the garden path or if Mary Coughlan and the semi-state agencies involved can do the jobs they are paid to do.
Though this mess is not of his making only one man can resolve it. Over to you Mr Cowen.
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