Minister for Health and leader of the Progressive Democrats Mary Harney yesterday declined to comment on concerns raised by one of her predecessors, Desmond O'Malley, about the Government's role in the current controversy over Shannon airport and the value of its continuing shareholding in Aer Lingus, writes Martin Wall, Industry Correspondent
In a letter to The Irish Times, Mr O'Malley asked why the Government was retaining a blocking minority shareholding in Aer Lingus "if it is not going to be used to stop the very sort of thing that we were told it was kept for in the first place".
He said that the termination of services from Shannon to Heathrow would have its greatest effect in making it much more difficult to attract future investment in the region.
"Apart from the loss of existing jobs, thousands of jobs that might have been created will not materialise," he said.
Asked whether Ms Harney shared the concerns raised by Mr O'Malley about the value of the Government retaining the shareholding in Aer Lingus, a spokesman for the Progressive Democrats' leader said that she would not be commenting.
The spokesman said that Ms Harney supported current Government policy, which was seeking to ensure continued connectivity for Shannon airport and the region.
The Government, which holds 25 per cent of Aer Lingus, has said that it will not intervene in the controversy as it would not be appropriate to interfere in what was a business decision by a private company.
Last weekend, it emerged that workers at Shannon airport had sent some 2,500 letters of protest to the Government and local TDs over the decision by Aer Lingus to drop its flights from Shannon to Heathrow.
It is understood that the Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment, Micheál Martin, will travel to the Shannon area next week to meet business groups in the area.
Business leaders in the midwest have been to the forefront of the campaign to have the Aer Lingus decision on the Heathrow link reversed.