Aer Lingus's decision to end its Shannon-London Heathrow service will mean added trauma for bereaved families living in the west of Ireland, according to the parish priest of Shannon.
Fr Tom Ryan said yesterday that the ending of the service will also result in the ceasing of the repatriation of Irish bodies from Europe and the UK through Shannon.
Three years ago, Aer Lingus announced that it was to end the repatriation of bodies on its short-haul flights to the three Irish airports, but quickly rescinded its decision following a public outcry.
Now, arising from the Aer Lingus decision to end its Shannon-London Heathrow service from January next, bereaved families will no longer be able to receive repatriated bodies of loved ones in a service that Aer Lingus has provided at Shannon for decades.
With no other airline providing the service at Shannon airport, families will now be forced to travel to Dublin and Cork airports to receive the bodies.
Fr Ryan said: "I am very concerned over the pastoral dimension to the Aer Lingus decision and it underlines the ripple effect of the decision for everyone in the region.
"The dead don't have a voice and this decision to end the Heathrow service will only add to the distress of families at a very vulnerable time where they will have to embark on long journeys to retrieve the bodies."
Fr Ryan said it is a "very frequent occurrence" for him to go to the mortuary in Shannon and be involved in the repatriation of bodies. "It takes place a couple of times a week, sometimes more."
Fr Ryan added: "Aer Lingus has been very good over the years of providing the service, and I would hope that the decision to end the Heathrow service would be reversed and rather than Shannon losing all its Heathrow slots, that the burden would be shared between Shannon, Dublin and Cork."
Spokesman for the Irish Association of Funeral Directors (IAFD), Gus Nichols, confirmed last night that the IAFD will be writing to Aer Lingus chief executive, Dermot Mannion, to express concern over the Aer Lingus move. "The move represents another reduction in services and will have an unavoidable impact on bereaved families," he said.
Limerick-based funeral director, Gerry Griffin, said the Aer Lingus decision will add to the costs of families seeking to have bodies repatriated.
"The service at Shannon is used greatly as Heathrow was the hub for all over the world for bodies being repatriated.
"The emotional impact will be huge for families worried about not being able to bring their loved ones home through Shannon and will only add to the trauma. That services are disappearing through so-called progression sounds strange," he said.
