This article is from page 10 of the 2006-07-10 edition of The Clare People. OCR mistakes are to be expected so download the original SWF or the rendered page 10 JPG
FINE Gael’s Madeleine TaylorQuinn has condemned the Government’s decision to sell Aer Lingus. as “reckless and irresponsible”.
The former Dáil frontbench spokesperson on tourism accused the Government of having “rammed through the Oireachtas the sale of Aer Lingus. They have shown such gross irresponsibility – it is almost beyond belief. They have dismissed the entire interests of Shannon Airport and the people of this county and region, which depend on it.
“Our economic security, and the security of our local communities that comes with balanced regional growth, has just been sacrificed in an act of monumental political foolishness.”
She said that the State’s capacity to underpin regular scheduled flights at Shannon “has proved to be a fundamental cornerstone of our economic security. Now that has been cast aside by people too incompetent to realise that our export and tourism-dominated economy cannot thrive, when the vital infrastructure to support it, is stripped away.”
She added that good economic policy was about providing the necessary infrastructure for the market to grow. “Balanced regional growth is about helping the market to grow in vulnerable areas. But, the end result of this woeful sale is that a viable economic future of the county and the region has just been put in serious jeopardy. I have no doubt that this is something that will impact greatly in the years ahead, particularly as the economy levels out and slows down,” Ms Taylor-Quinn said.
While welcoming the prospect of new US airlines coming into Shannon, she pointed out that these were only seasonal benefits.
“We need scheduled flights – concrete transport infrastructure. Aer Lingus has shown a lack of commitment to this and we have seen this Government rubber-stamp that lack of commitment. Aer Lingus is now almost totally Dublin-focussed, not simply because of the sale, but also because the current Government has sought the removal of the bilateral agreement. Because of the influence that Aer Lingus has on Irish air transport, major technology companies will increasingly need to cluster around Dublin, tourists that should be flying here, will instead fly into Dublin and our local exporters will be forced to transport out of Dublin”’ she said.