The end of the Shannon stopover in three years will have serious consequences for the region, the Labour Party has said.
Minister for Transport Martin Cullen announced this evening he had reached an agreement in the US which will allow a transitionary period before the stopover ends entirely in April 2008.
Transport spokeswoman Roisin Shortall said: "It is typical of Minister Cullen that he chose to make this important announcement 3,000 miles away in New York, rather than having the courage to come in and announce his decision on the floor of the Dáil.
"This decision clearly has potentially very serious consequences for the Shannon Region and it is essential that the government now takes all possible measures to minimise economic damage and to ensure the maximum possible level of job protection," she said.
"Once again the people of the mid-west have been badly let down by their local Fianna Fáil representatives. All of the pledges of support from Fianna Fáil TD for the stopover have proved worthless and the airport and its employees must now face a very difficult future."