MEMBERS of the public were urged yesterday to tell Government parties they will vote against them unless they do a U-turn on Cork Airport’s €100 million debt.

PASSENGER numbers are plunging, Europe’s biggest airline say it’s too expensive to operate there and local businessmen are complaining that the place is empty.

Taoiseach Leo Varadkar has remained tight-lipped on whether the Government will nominate European commissioner Phil Hogan for another term.

The withdrawal of the transatlantic air service from Cork is disappointing, but hardly surprising. How can airport management persuade airlines to provide transatlantic services when the runway is too short for take-off of long-haul aircraft?

Siptu members at Aer Lingus and the Dublin and Shannon airport authorities have welcomed an interim proposal by the Labour Court for a structured negotiation process to resolve the pensions row at the companies.

Seán Kelly, the Cork South MEP, has warned that ending round-the-clock landing services at Cork Airport will threaten the terminal’s international status and lead to a decline in passengers.

Monday’s disruptive airport stoppages may have been averted, but there is little optimism that talks at the Labour Relations Commission can resolve the two-year old pension dispute at Aer Lingus and Dublin Airport Authority.

The operations of Irish Water, which will collect charges from households around the country by 2015, will be covered in a veil of secrecy, according to Fianna Fáil.

Transport Minister Leo Varadkar has played down suggestions that projected numbers for Shannon Airport are “fanciful”.

Minister for Transport Leo Varadkar yesterday revealed a tax-incentivised aviation model at Shannon Airport as the most likely model the Government is to pursue for the airport.

A HIGH Court judge has refused, on condition of Ryanair’s consent to provide certain undertakings, to grant an injunction restraining the airline allegedly intimidating agency staff selling rail tickets for London at Dublin Airport on behalf of a British company.

PRE-TAX profits at the overseas duty-free operator owned by the Dublin Airport Authority (DAA) last year plummeted by 87% to €3 million.

RYANAIR hopes the Government’s financial woes will help the low-cost carrier finally seal a takeover of Aer Lingus, Ryanair chief executive Michael O’Leary has told a German newspaper.

FINANCE Minister Brian Lenihan quietly shelved a review of the pay of semi-state bosses despite the fact that some of them enjoy packages worth €500,000 a year.

DUBLIN Airport could be paralysed by a security staff strike over the October Bank Holiday weekend after workers yesterday raised the possibility of a total withdrawal of labour.