Parties seek Government action on Shannon jobs

Opposition parties have called on Minister for Transport Noel Dempsey to take action to avoid hundreds of job losses in the wake of Aer Lingus's decision to scrap its services from Shannon to London's Heathrow.

And a specially convened meeting of Shannon Town Council tonight called on the Minister to explain why the service was not ring-fenced in 2005 as requested by the local authority.

Mayor of Shannon Fine Gael councillor Sean McLoughlin said the Government should use "its significant influence as a major shareholder" to ensure the retention of the route.

"The fact that Aer Lingus has already leased some of its slots at Heathrow to another airline is an indictment of this Government's failure to protect important strategic air links, and potentially thousands of jobs," Mr McLoughlin said.

One of the region's biggest employers said last night that some 600 jobs were in doubt in Shannon after Aer Lingus's decision.

General Manager of industrial diamond maker Element Six Ken Sullivan said the company would have a "very uncertain future in Shannon" if an alternative route or carrier is not identified before the Aer Lingus service is withdrawn.

He said the operations based in Shannon require constant travel to and from all parts of the world and 90 per cent of this is routed through London's Heathrow airport.

"With Ireland now an expensive place in which to do business, the declared national strategy is to provide high end services. Without a Shannon - Heathrow link, such operations cannot survive in Shannon," he added.

Element Six - formerly De Beers - was established in 1960 and today employs 600 people in the Shannon Free Zone.

The Shannon facility also accommodates an International Distribution Centre, a Market Support Centre, while it also houses the group's financial and legal functions.

Siptu is to try to put together a broad-based coalition aimed at forcing Aer Lingus to reverse its plans to drop the route next January.

It hopes the coalition will comprise workers, business representatives and tourism interests as well as the Government and other Aer Lingus shareholders.

Fine Gael deputy enterprise spokesman and Clare TD Pat Breen today called on the Government and Mr Dempsey to call an extraordinary general meeting (EGM) of the Aer Lingus Board.

"The implications of Aer Lingus's plans to axe its flights from Shannon to Heathrow are growing more serious by the hour," he said.

"Yet the Government continues to maintain a stony silence on this issue, in spite of the fact that Finance Minister Brian Cowen is Aer Lingus's largest shareholder."

Labour TD for Limerick East Jan O'Sullivan called on Mr Dempsey to outline a plan of action.

"In the first instance he should sit down with Aer Lingus and explain to them, their obligations to Shannon and the mid-west region," she said.

"The Government is a significant shareholder in Aer Lingus and transport minister Noel Dempsey should use his considerable leverage, to force some concessions from the airline in this matter and to restore some level of service between Shannon and Heathrow. "

A spokesman for Mr Dempsey said the minister believed Aer Lingus's decision was disappointing for the Shannon region but that it was a commercial decision for that company.

Local union representatives said that while there were no plans to ballot on industrial action over the closure of the Shannon-Heathrow route, they could not rule in or out such a move taking place at some stage.

Aer Lingus told staff yesterday that 45 jobs could be lost at Shannon as a result of the closure of the route which will come into effect next January. Aer Lingus plans to use the landing slots at Heathrow, which currently serve the Shannon route, to facilitate a new service from Belfast.

The airline said that as part of a €150 million investment it would base three aircraft at Belfast International Airport which would primarily serve London Heathrow and Amsterdam's Schiphol airport. There will also be a limited number of flights to Barcelona, Geneva, Rome, Budapest, Malaga and Faro.