Members of Shannon Town Council have unanimously called on the Government to immediately explain why Aer Lingus slots at Heathrow airport were not ring fenced in the interests of Shannon Airport, as requested by the Local Authority in April 2005.

Following a special meeting of Shannon Town Council tonight, members are now seeking immediate clarification from the Minster for Transport on what he intends to do to reinstate the Shannon-Heathrow link following Aer Lingus' decision to drop the longstanding service.

Mayor of Shannon Cllr Sean McLoughlin commented, "Thousands of jobs and millions of Euro in regional investment are threatened as a result of the nonsensical decision by Aer Lingus to remove this vital service. Two companies in Shannon have already spoken of the threat their businesses are facing following the decision and I fear that they are not on their own in that regard. The Government must now use its significant influence, as a major shareholder in the airline, to ensure the retention of a direct service from Shannon to London Heathrow."

The Mayor said that Minister Martin Cullen needed to explain why the slots at Heathrow were not ring fenced as requested by the Council over two years ago.

"The failure to ring fence these slots is one that is going to ultimately hit facilities such as Shannon Airport that rely on links to major international hubs. 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 in the Western Region", concluded Mayor McLoughlin.

Commenting on tonight's meeting, Ger Dollard, Shannon Town Manager said, "Shannon Town Council fully supports initiatives by Clare County Council, Shannon Airport Authority and all other organisations on the Western seaboard to have the Shannon-Heathrow link reinstated. The Council will work through all groups and organisations on which it is represented to ensure that projects and initiatives are delivered to secure balanced regional development in the West."

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