This article is from page 1 of the 2006-08-25 edition of The Clare People. OCR mistakes are to be expected so download the original SWF or the rendered page 1 JPG
A FULL frontal assault on the Government’s handling of the Open Skies aviation negotiations and the sale of Aer Lingus was launched last night.
In a blistering attack, former Clare TD Madeleine Taylor-Quinn (FG) accused Minister Martin Cullen of presiding over a “farce”. Her colleague, Deputy Pat Breen demanded written assurances on transatlantic passenger numbers from Aer Lingus.
Taylor-Quinn said that the sale of Aer Lingus was “not in the national interest. We are leaving ourselves very vulnerable, both economically and from a security point of view.”
She was commenting on the news that Open Skies has floundered over major opposition in the US to foreign ownership of American airlines, at the same time that Aer Lingus, the national airline, is being readied for sale on international markets.
“The US is concerned about its future in Open Skies. America is a huge global economy and here are we, a small island nation, selling off a national assest without a backward glance,” said Taylor-Quinn.
US Transportation Under-Secretary, Jeffrey Shane, confirmed US objections: “We’re not going to make the timetable we initially contemplated by the end of this month or early September. We can’t do it”.
Meanwhile, it has emerged that the Transport Minister has nothing in writing from Aer Lingus on its promise to maintain 400,000 transatlantic passengers through Shannon Airport, after Open Skies.
Deputy Breen said the minister has “led the region on a merry dance. I want immediate answers from the Minister as to why he did not bother to request or receive assurances from Aer Lingus in writing.” The Transport Minister told the Dáil that he “did not request or receive these assurances in writing from the company”.
Last year, Minister Cullen said that he “sought and obtained assurances from Aer Lingus that . . . it will maintain the current level of transatlantic traffic with regular year round scheduled services”.