Ryanair chief executive Michael O'Leary wrote a flurry of private letters to Taoiseach Bertie Ahern over a period of 15 months in which he strongly criticised Mr Ahern's refusal to sanction a competing second terminal at Dublin Airport. John Downes reports

The correspondence also documents a meeting set up by the Taoiseach on April 5th last year, at which Mr O'Leary says Mr Ahern's representatives were "fully briefed" on the low-cost carrier's plans for a second competing terminal.

It is not clear if Mr Ahern was present at this meeting. However, two days after the meeting, Mr O'Leary sent another letter to the Taoiseach's constituency office thanking Mr Ahern for his "time and hospitality".

The letters, which are marked "strictly private and confidential", were released under the Freedom of Information Act. Some were sent to Mr Ahern's constituency office while other went to Government Buildings.

They indicate that the very public pressure exerted by Mr O'Leary on the Government over its preferred option for a second terminal was mirrored in private correspondence with the Taoiseach between December 2003 and March of this year.

Mr Ahern has in the past accused Mr O'Leary of attempting to "bully" him by taking out a full-page newspaper advertisements calling for the break-up of the former Aer Rianta.

The advertisements - which appeared less than two months after Mr O'Leary's April 2004 meeting with Mr Ahern's officials - contained an unflattering cartoon image of the Taoiseach. They also listed a series of promises on the issue, about which it was claimed nothing had been done.

In his letter sent after the April meeting, Mr O'Leary expressed the hope that "now your people are fully briefed", progress could be made to have a new facility ready by summer 2007.

According to an earlier letter from Mr O'Leary, the meeting in April followed a previous encounter between the two men on January 20th of 2004, in which Mr Ahern had agreed to such a meeting.

In this letter, dated March 26th, Mr O'Leary warned that if a meeting was not set up "within the next two weeks . . . then we will take it that your Government has no interest in competition or job creation, and we will act accordingly".

The six letters make a number of references to Mr O'Leary's belief that a second competing terminal at Dublin airport would generate five million additional passengers and 5,000 new jobs.

But in the most recent of these, dated March 21st of this year, Mr O'Leary says Ryanair is "deeply concerned at the Government leaks over the weekend which suggest that the Dublin Airport Authority (DAA) [ the successor to Aer Rianta] will be allowed to build a second terminal".

"This will represent a breach of the agreed Programme for Government," he writes. He also attaches a copy of the Government's agreed programme for Government, with an "X" next to the relevant section relating to Dublin airport. The Government announced last May that it had decided to allow the DAA to own the proposed second terminal.

A spokeswoman for Mr O'Leary yesterday said that, since there will be no competing second terminal at Dublin airport, "not a whole lot" happened at the April 5th meeting. The motivation for the letters was "self-explanatory", she added.

A Government spokesman declined to comment.

12th December 2003: "In the first half of next year Ryanair will open two new bases in Rome and Barcelona. Why does Ireland continue to mismanage its airport policy so that it forces all of this rapid traffic growth to other lower cost airports in Continental Europe? Why are Ireland's airports so uncompetitive?" Isn't it time for change?"

26th March 2004: "We met on the evening of the 20th of January last, and you agreed to set up a meeting with the relevant interest groups at which we would present/explain the details of the second competing terminal."

"I would appreciate this meeting being set up within the next two weeks. If it is delayed beyond this, then we will take it that your Government has no interest in competition or job creation, and we will act accordingly."

"I have no intention of remaining mute on this important national issue whilst your Government delays and dithers..As Churchill exhorted his officials "action this day!"

7th April 2004: "Thank you for your time and hospitality on Monday the 5th last. I hope now that your people are fully briefed that we can move forward with urgency.This will be the single largest investment by any company in Irish tourism ever."

"....it is imperative that the Government moves the legislation for the splitting up of Aer Rianta and proceeding with the second terminal before the summer recess (sic).To put it in perspective this project has more economic potential and will leave a more lasting legacy in this country than even the IFSC does today."

"If I can help to push this forward in any way over the coming weeks, please call me."

21st March 2005: "As the largest airline in Ireland, we are deeply concerned at the Government leaks over the weekend which suggest that the Dublin Airport Authority will be allowed to build a second terminal..

"Competition has already proven effective in forcing improved services and lower prices out of other State monopolies such as the ESB, Eircom and indeed Aer Lingus. Two terminals run by the DAA will not be competition."