The Government must force Aer Lingus to reverse its decision to drop its routes from Shannon to Heathrow in London, the Labour Party leader said today.
Pat Rabbitte said it was now "very clear that Aer Lingus and the Government totally underestimated the potential damage to the midwest and west regions of the decision.
"The decision has met with unprecedented opposition from workers, business and tourism interests as well as public representatives in the area, and it is essential that the Government should now act to avert serious social and economic damage to the region," Mr Rabbitte said.
He said that his party had been accused of "scaremongering" when it opposed the privatisation of Aer Lingus.
"The Government assured us that the country's strategic interests would be protected and in particular that services between the State airports and Heathrow would be maintained. It is now up to the Government to deliver on these promises," he said.
Mr Rabbitte said the Government's initial response to the Aer Lingus announcement was "to ignore it and hope that the controversy would pass".
"In more recent days they have tried to depict themselves as innocent bystanders, who are helpless to act in the face of the Aer Lingus decision. Neither response is sufficient. As a 25 per cent shareholder in the company, the Government remains a key player. It is now up to the Government to act to ensure that this decision is reversed."
Fine Gael's deputy spokesman on enterprise, Clare TD Pat Breen, said the talks with Cityjet on the possibility of new routes out of Shannon "will not deflect the west of Ireland lobby from its objective, which is the retention of a direct Shannon/Heathrow service".
"For adequate connectivity for the business traveller, a service to Paris CDG [Charles De Gaulle]
would have to operate three times daily, nothing short of this will meet their needs. Additionally it will not address the needs of . . . those dependent on the Heathrow route for cargo deliveries," he said.
Dublin-based airline Cityjet is considering starting routes from Shannon airport to London City and CDG in Paris.
"The Minister for Transport Noel Dempsey and the Aer Lingus chief executive, Dermot Mannion, have said that interest groups in this region are exaggerating the effects of this decision. This is a gross insult to the tourism and industry bodies in this region who have invested heavily in the west of Ireland," he said.