It was as desolate as Oliver Goldsmith's Deserted Villageat the Aer Lingus check-in desk by 5.25pm at Shannon airport yesterday. The last Aer Lingus flight to London Heathrow was just leaving and there was not a sinner around. Just the monitors.
"17.25 EI382 - LHR", stated one in remembrance of times past. It was out of step. All the other monitors were unanimous. "Shannon Airport - position closed," they read.
The sad scene brought to mind Goldsmith's words: " . . . times are alter'd; Trade's unfeeling train/usurp the land."
Sheets of paper strewn on the check-in counter carried a brief message in bold type. "We would like to thank all the passengers who have travelled on the Shannon-Heathrow service over the years as we face the final flight on the route."
It was signed: "On behalf of all the Aer Lingus Shannon Staff. January 13th, 2008."
The departures lounge was almost empty. Songs of Praisewas on TV and an elderly woman discussed death between hymns. The choir began with Jesus Christ the Apple Tree. Too much. The channel was changed. Northampton had drawn with Hartlepool 1-1.
"17.25 EI382 - LHR" disappeared from a nearby screen giving flight details. It was replaced by "18.30 FR132 - Paris Beauvais".
Next month CityJet, Air France's Irish subsidiary, will provide a new route from Shannon to Paris, connecting it to more than 200 international destinations.
It was announced yesterday that Shannon airport was aiming for overall growth on its UK and European routes this year in spite of the loss of the Heathrow service.
Airport director Martin Moroney said: "It is a severe loss, a big blow, as it was a highly important route, but I believe that we have restored our global connectivity with the new Air France-CityJet service to Paris Charles de Gaulle, which commences on February 4th."
Mr Moroney said new Ryanair services to other London airports and the CityJet service would almost make up the shortfall in passenger numbers this year.
Mr Moroney said about 320,000 passengers used the Aer Lingus service last year, which was "on a par" with 2006.
Mayor of Clare Patricia McCarthy said it was a sad day in the long aviation history of Shannon airport. "It is underestimated the hurt and damage that the loss of the service has caused in the midwest. We hope that this will only be a short-term situation.
"We have learned lessons from this and we will all be working harder to ensure that Shannon remains viable."
Ms McCarthy added: "The Minister for Transport and his Cabinet colleagues should hang their heads in shame today."
She continued: "It is now evident that the Government failed miserably to act and deliver on the guarantees given in its IPO [initial public offering] document to have permanent and quality connectivity from Shannon to London Heathrow."
Fifty-one Aer Lingus workers will lose their jobs as a result of the decision. The deadline for the voluntary redundancy process has been extended to the end of the month.
Ryanair chief executive Michael O'Leary was standing near the check-in area giving free flights to the passengers on the final Aer Lingus Heathrow flight.
He said: "If you look at some of the coverage of the Shannon issue, you would swear that Shannon is closing today. It is not. In six months' time, no one will even notice that Aer Lingus is gone."