The people and the business interests of the mid-west are rightly concerned about the impact the withdrawal of a profitable Shannon-Heathrow Aer Lingus service may have on job prospects.
But blaming Aer Lingus is not the answer. The newly-privatised company decided that Belfast offered better prospects and profits for its Heathrow landing slots and acted in accordance with its commercial mandate. Would other airlines have responded differently?
As a minority shareholder, the Government cannot behave as it might have done in the past and order Aer Lingus to continue the threatened service. But it can facilitate alternatives. Such arrangements are already under discussion, notably between representatives of the Shannon Airport Authority and CityJet. Aer Lingus was offered - and rejected - a revised landing fees package bringing a €4 million reduction in its costs.
Last-minute inducements reflect a lack of foresight and adequate forward planning by Government and State agencies. On paper, the Government is committed to a spatial strategy that will rebalance population growth and encourage economic development in the regions. But it has delivered a half-baked decentralisation policy involving civil and public servants. In such circumstances, for Minister for Defence Willie O'Dea to engage in the vulgar abuse of Aer Lingus management over the Shannon decision is outrageous. The Shannon situation is a direct consequence of Government action - in privatising Aer Lingus - and its inaction, in not preparing and orchestrating a joined-up spatial strategy.
Those affected by the withdrawal of the Heathrow service are angry. And a concerted public campaign has been mobilised in opposing the decision. Similar campaigns succeeded in retaining a stop-over requirement at Shannon for United States flights in the past. But those arrangements will finally end next April as part of a Government-negotiated open-skies deal. The Shannon lobby must realise that the State no longer has the ability to artificially inflate traffic there; what's needed on their part is flexibility, innovation and a willingness to change. In that regard, knee-jerk negativity in relation to CityJet potentially providing a new link with Paris is misplaced.
For its part, the Government is struggling to reassure the mid-west. But forward planning would be more encouraging. Dublin Airport Authority still effectively controls Shannon and Cork. That must end. Competition, based on debt levels commensurate with the airports' financial strength, should be given its head. Regional airports must be able to compete with the dominant server. There has been political muddle and delay. Trade unions, resistant to change, bear some responsibility. So do Government departments and State agencies.
Regional development should be promoted through strategies that embrace all forms of communication and transport. The Government should get on with it.