This article is from page 1 of the 2007-08-07 edition of The Clare People. OCR mistakes are to be expected so download the original SWF or the rendered page 1 JPG
DISASTER for Shannon is being predicted today with Aer Lingus expected to pull the plug on its Hea- throw route, putting up to 200 jobs in danger and starting a stampede of business interests out of the region. Mayor of Clare, Councillor Patricia McCarthy, said job losses could be as high as 200 with the knock-on ef- fects of the decision, while losses to the airport authority in terms of fees
alone are being put at €7 million, ac- cording to Cllr Martin Conway.
Business sources have revealed that many companies are already consid- ering relocating to Dublin as there will be no service to Heathrow if the airline pulls all four daily flights as expected.
Staff, unions and the airport au- thority waited to hear official con- firmation of the decision today with airline boss, Dermot Mannion due to arrive for a 10am briefing.
Interim chief executive of Shan-
non Chamber of Commerce, Laurie O’Connor, said the ending of Aer Lingus’ Shannon-Heathrow route would be “a big blow for business in the region”.
“We need the support of the Gov- ernment on this. We are still waiting for a marketing plan for the airport around Open Skies – we’ve heard that €9m in route support promised to the region may not be coming to Shannon. The Minister for Transport has to intervene,’ O’Connor added.
Fine Gael’s deputy spokesperson on
Enterprise and Clare TD, Pat Breen, questioned the transport minister’s response to the Aer Lingus decision “to sign the death warrant for Shan- non-Heathrow services”.
‘As a Shareholder in the company, the minister must make it clear to Aer Lingus that retention of the ex- isting slots to and from Shannon are critical to providing connectivity to this region,” added Deputy Breen.