This article is from page 5 of the 2007-08-28 edition of The Clare People. OCR mistakes are to be expected so download the original SWF or the rendered page 5 JPG
THE online petition to save Shan- non’s Heathrow slots has now gained almost 12,700 signatures and is still erowing.
Thousands have signed up to the Save Shannon petition since it was launched almost two weeks ago.
The petition now ranks as one of the most active petitions in the world.
It has been ranked eleventh most popular online petition worldwide.
The signatories’ call for Aer Lingus to reverse its plans to remove direct flights from Shannon to Heathrow now looks on course to reach the 15,000 mark before the end of the Leto
“We are asking people to sign and publicise this petition,’ a spokesman for the Save Shannon website said.
‘The more pressure that can be put on politicians, the Government and Aer Lingus itself, the more chance of having this decision reversed.”
The online petition, which is ad- dressed to the board of Aer Lingus, also allows signatories to post a comment on the site, with a number of people calling for a boycott of Aer Lingus should the slot be transferred to Belfast.
Anyone wanting to sign the petition can do so by logging on to www.pe- titiononline.com/EISNNLHR/peti-
tion.html.
Meanwhile, Ray Tomany, the Cor- bally man behind the petition, has written to members of the cabinet urging them to go online and see for themselves how strongly people feel about the issue.
At the outset, the petition was erowing by as many as 2,000 signa- tures per day.
“If you take the trouble to read some of it (the comments and signa- tures) you will be in no doubt about the strength of feeling about this,” he SrHLOe
He referred back in his letter to the statement made by Minister Martin Cullen in April concerning the im- portance of the Shannon slots.
“The slots held by Aer Lingus at London Heathrow Airport currently serve an important role in ensuring connectivity between Irish airports and the extensive network of inter- national air services to and from Heathrow,” Minister Cullen said at the time.
Said Mr Tomany to the ministers, “Iam sure you and your colleagues will find a way to extricate us from this situation.”
Many of the signatories to the pe- tition are also leaving comments on the site, which also carries details of the arguments for keeping the Heath- row slots at Shannon.