This article is from page 13 of the 2007-09-04 edition of The Clare People. OCR mistakes are to be expected so download the original SWF or the rendered page 13 JPG
SINN FEIN national chairwoman, Mary Lou McDonald has refuted the allegation that the Aer Lingus deci- sion to relocate its Shannon-Heath- row slots to Belfast was a form of “peace dividend” negotiated between both Governments and the parties. North Kerry deputy Martin Ferris, Clare representative Pat Talty and Maurice Quinlivan from Limerick, accompanied the MEP to Shannon to meet the various concerns opposing
the moving of the slots.
At the airport they met with mem- bers of the Shannon Action Group to offer Sinn Feéin’s full support to help overturn the Aer Lingus decision.
Ms McDonald added that Sinn Féin had agreed to write to the leaders of all the opposition parties in a bid to form a political alliance to have the Aer Lingus decision reversed.
“As far as Sinn Féin is concerned, the origins of the present difficulties can be traced back to the privatisa- tion of Aer Lingus. What I want to
make very clear is that we are aware of speculation locally that the move- ment of these slots was some form of ‘peace dividend’. As someone who has been involved in detailed nego- tiations for two years or more, I can categorically say that at no stage was any such thing discussed as part of a peace package.
‘Sinn Fein would never have agreed to pitching the Belfast region against the mid-west. This isn’t a zero-sum game. It isn’t about pitching Shannon against Belfast,” she said.
Speaking on behalf of Clare Sinn Fein, Cathy McCafferty said that some of the ideas being floated as alternatives to Aer Lingus retaining its Heathrow slots for Shannon are nothing more than “smokescreens ZWOOMRceCd NUM TITSa ee
“T don’t see anything realistic com- ing from proposals that Belfast or Charles De Gaulle could provide alternative hubs for Shannon. As re- gards the news of BMI coming in, there’s nothing concrete about that either.
“In any case these alternatives do not address the core issue of whether Aer Lingus workers at Shannon, es- pecially those employed on ground support roles, will have a future.”
Martin Ferris commended the Aer Lingus workers on their campaign to save the Heathrow slots for Shannon and promised the support of his par- ty’s Dail deputies.
Deputy Ferris said Sinn Féin had campaigned during the recent elec- tion for the re-nationalisation of Aer Bars teat ine