At long last, the Government has been shamed by public opinion into taking decisions about expanding capacity at Dublin airport and making provision for the purchase of new aircraft by Aer Lingus.
The political compromises reached by the governing parties will not please everyone but, with a general election on the horizon, they have been designed to cause the least possible offence to powerful vested interests. Whether they will be to the benefit of the travelling public remains to be seen.
A second terminal is to be built by the Dublin Airport Authority (DAA) which will subsequently be permitted to tender in a competition to run it. At the same time, a majority stake will be sold in Aer Lingus in order to raise fresh equity for the purchase of new aircraft and the implementation of its development plan. Finally, an undertaking to develop the road and transport network in the vicinity of the airport opens up the prospect of a third, competing terminal being constructed by the McEvaddy brothers.
But, the operators of terminal two will have to recognise that current pay and conditions at the airport should be maintained and they will have to accept the right to trade union membership for negotiation purposes. It would appear that Michael O'Leary need not apply.
The Government has failed to protect the interests of consumers in the past through its vacillation and incompetence. There has been a failure to reach difficult, but urgent, structural decisions. It is now more than three years since Fianna Fáil and the Progressive Democrats promised to upgrade facilities at Dublin airport and to provide a new terminal.
The only thing they delivered was lengthy political in-fighting and strenuous lobbying by vested interests. The outcome, insofar as airline passengers are concerned, is that queues got longer and delays more frequent.
Some aspects of the announcement made last night by the Government should be taken with a pinch of salt. The Taoiseach, Mr Ahern, spoke of (his) new terminal being ready to operate in 2009. But, eight months ago, the DAA - which has now been given responsibility for building the terminal - hoped the facility could be in place by 2010. And that is before possible challenges, appeals, and other delays to the planning and construction process are taken into account.
The whole saga has demonstrated a serious lack of coherence and joined-up thinking in Government about how Irish air travel and its facilities can best be developed. Fianna Fáil and the PDs disagreed over aspects of private investment and greater competition, with the Taoiseach leaning towards the interests of organised labour in relation to the terminal, but opting for private investment in Aer Lingus. Meanwhile, the DAA remains the reluctant owner of the loss-making Great Southern Hotels. The Government's proposals for Bertie and Mary terminals are a political fudge.