*Cathal Crowe TD (FF). Photograph: Joe Buckley
AER LINGUS must be held to account over their decision to shut its cargo facility at Shannon Airport, a Clare TD has said.
Concern has been expressed by Cathal Crowe TD (FF) over the decision by Aer Lingus to close operations of its cargo facility at Shannon Airport by the end of the year.
Deputy Crowe told The Clare Echo he has been contacted by a number of workers in the Aer Lingus facility in Shannon who are “devastated to hear from their central management in Aer Lingus that this facility is being earmarked for permanent closure”.
He outlined, “The workers I have spoken to are naturally very worried about their futures and are expected to meet with union representatives in the coming days”.
Workers must be protected, the Meelick native stressed. “This is a major blow for the workers and their families and I will be using my political voice to ensure that Aer Lingus are held fully to account and fulfil all statutory obligations to their employees. I hope that redeployment packages will also be offered to workers who wish to remain with Aer Lingus in Shannon”.
It is a blow for the entire Mid-West region, he said. “Beyond the Aer Lingus cargo workforce in Shannon, this has serious ramifications for the region. Many manufacturing plants in the MidWest depend on the Aer Lingus cargo facility to transit their products globally. They now have to scramble to find alternative solutions and I will be asking Aer Lingus to engage with Shannon Airport management and groups representing industry and commerce in the region to ensure alternative cargo distribution facilities can be available at Shannon Airport”.
The 2015 sale of a 25% Government stake in Aer Lingus to the International Airlines Group (IAG) has proved to be the wrong move, Deputy Crowe said. “Successive governments have sold off state shares in the Aer Lingus company to the point that the State no longer has any shares. Aer Lingus is now centrally managed by the parent AIG company, which is headquartered in Madrid and decisions taken by this company are at all times made on economic grounds rather than the need for regionally balanced development that the Aer Lingus company was once guided by. It was a gross mistake for the State to sell of their shares in Aer Lingus and yet again this is coming back to haunt us”.
