The planned strike by nearly 500 pilots at Aer Lingus is set to go ahead next week after attempts to convene talks to resolve the dispute ended unsuccessfully last night.
In a separate development the Government has reiterated its determination not to intervene in the ongoing row over the termination of the Aer Lingus service from Shannon to Heathrow despite demands for action by Minister for Defence Willie O'Dea and Fianna Fáil politicians in the midwest.
In a statement on behalf of the Government, Minister for Education Mary Hanafin said that, as a listed plc, Aer Lingus had to take its own decisions: "It is inappropriate for the Government to intervene in the decision-making of a private company. To do so would ultimately be damaging to the company and its customers."
But she said that the Government was disappointed at the Aer Lingus decision.
Fine Gael maintained that the Government was in complete disarray while the Labour Party accused Mr O'Dea of trying to rewrite history on the privatisation of Aer Lingus.
Pilots at the airline plan to strike next Tuesday and Wednesday over the terms and conditions being offered to staff at the new Belfast base.
Aer Lingus last night rejected a proposal by the Impact trade union to lift the strike threat if the company shelved its recruitment campaign for pilots in Belfast and entered into talks at the Labour Relations Commission (LRC). Aer Lingus chief executive Dermot Mannion said that the company could not agree, for commercial and other reasons, to the "stringent preconditions" set by the union for talks.
Sources said there was no immediate indication that the Labour Court or the LRC would try to bring the parties together, but this remained a possibility over the weekend.
In a new development, Ryanair is believed to have spent €37.6 million yesterday on increasing its stake in Aer Lingus from 25.2 per cent to 28 per cent. It is understood that the budget airline bought 16 million shares at €2.35 each from an unnamed seller.