The mother of a 24-year-old Co Kerry man who died in Australia 10 days ago has criticised Aer Lingus for its decision to cut back on its short-haul cargo service which will affect the transportation of the remains of Irish people home.
Speaking on the eve of her son's funeral Mass, Ms Eileen Clifford, from Killorglin, Co Kerry, said she wanted to highlight the difficulty families and organisations may have in the future in arranging to bring home remains from abroad.
Ms Clifford spoke of the difficulty she had in arranging the transfer of the body of her son, Noel, from Heathrow Airport, London, to Ireland after it had arrived from Sydney.
The 24-year-old qualified chef, who went to Australia in June, died in Sydney after a fall from a balcony.
He had been working at the Sydney Opera House, and in recent weeks he had phoned home to say world famous tenor Andrea Bocelli had complimented him on his cooking.
Ms Clifford said yesterday she had initially been told that Aer Lingus was not going to take the body from Qantas Airlines to Ireland when it arrived at Heathrow.
She said she spent five days seeking to reverse that decision.
Noel's parents, Mr John Clifford, the chairman of the Laune Rangers GAA club, and Ms Eileen Clifford, were attending the Kerry GAA Gala Ball in Killarney last Saturday week when they were told the tragic news.
The second eldest of a family of four, Noel is also survived by his older brother Enda (26), sister Niamh (23) and brother Aidan (20).
Ms Clifford said only the intervention of local Minister Mr John O'Donoghue, Fianna Fáil councillor Mr Michael Cahill, and a Garda welfare officer had made the transfer of Noel's body possible.
Aer Lingus recently announced its short-haul cargo services, including the transport of remains to and from the UK and Europe, would cease from January 1st. The service is to remain for transatlantic flights.
Ms Clifford said the ending of the Aer Lingus service would be a nightmare for many families in the future. She had spent from last Sunday week to last Thursday on the phone trying to organise the transfer of her son's body from Heathrow to Ireland.
Noel's body arrived home on Tuesday to Shannon. The removal took place last night, and Noel will be buried today at Milltown cemetery.
Meanwhile, Kerry County Council decided last week to lobby all county councils and city councils in the west and south to get behind the campaign to reverse the decision.
An Aer Lingus spokeswoman said last night the airline was "hopeful" it would be in a position to make special arrangements to carry remains after January 1st.
She said discussions were taking place with the Irish Association of Funeral Directors on the issue.
She said interlining, where cargo, including human remains, was transferred from one airline to another, had already been discontinued from September 1st.
The spokeswoman said new arrangements may be put in place to continue to carry human remains as part of interlining arrangements.
She added that some 1,200 human remains were carried per annum by the airline.