Tens of thousands of air passengers face severe disruption on Monday when staff at the three State airports stop work to discuss plans by the Government to break up Aer Rianta.
There was an angry reaction by trade unions last night to the plan by the Minister for Transport, Mr Brennan, to set up the airports in Dublin, Shannon and Cork as independent entities owned by the State.
Mr Brennan insisted no jobs would be lost and said the privatisation of the airports was not on his agenda. Stating that Dublin Airport would assume some €100 million in debt from Shannon and Cork, he presented the initiative as an opportunity for the two airports to develop new business.
But unions moved quickly to oppose the plan by calling a meeting of staff at the three airports on Monday afternoon. The vice-president of SIPTU, Mr Jack O'Connor, accused Mr Brennan, of "institutionalised vandalism". He claimed the plans were reckless and defied commercial logic. Union leaders are to meet at the Irish Congress of Trade Unions headquarters in Dublin on Monday morning to plan official opposition to the break-up. Their anger at the announcement is compounded by the fact that many felt reassured by comments made by the Taoiseach, Mr Ahern, to last week's ICTU conference in Tralee.
Mr Ahern said he had no desire for conflict with the unions and he believed change could be implemented in a "spirit of partnership".
Last night the Taoiseach stressed the initiative was in the Programme for Government. He said negotiations would take place in the next 12 months before Aer Rianta was disbanded.
"The unions would be very anxious because they have large parts of their membership that are not involved in the airports but are involved in other parts of tourism. The way of securing those jobs is to get more tourists into the country," he said.
With no indication last night as to when workers would resume their duties on Monday, airport sources acknowledged that disruption was inevitable if the stoppage went ahead. Up to 80,000 passengers use Dublin Airport daily at this time of year, while a further 9,000 use Shannon and 8,000 use Cork. Aer Rianta is seeking clarity from the unions about their plans.
The company, which has opposed the break-up initiative, said its board would meet next week to discuss the Government decision.
"The board has always stated that it fully recognises and accepts the right of the Minister and the Government to make policy decisions regarding the company," it said.
Mr Brennan has not yet asked the Cabinet to sanction a new independent terminal at Dublin Airport, but said yesterday that he remained committed to that objective.
He will appoint three interim boards of directors independent of Aer Rianta to the airports next week. He hopes to formally establish these boards in a year.
When Mr Brennan was asked about the future of the current Aer Rianta chairman, Mr Noel Hanlon, he said that no directors of the company were guaranteed a place on the new boards.
Labour's transport spokeswoman, Ms Róisín Shortall, said the initiative "will do nothing to serve the interests of travellers or airport workers and it certainly will do nothing to promote proper regional development."
But Fine Gael's transport spokesman, Mr Denis Naughten, welcomed the plan and said the changes "should tip the scales in favour of the air traveller and customer". Green party leader Mr Trevor Sargent said the Government was doing more harm than good. "Before we talk about the individual management of each airport within Aer Rianta, Ireland needs a National Aviation Strategy to avoid centralisation at Dublin in the air and on the ground."