The three top managers in Aer Lingus resigned from the company because they sensed increasing Government "unease" at the pace and direction of their plans for the State airline, it emerged last night, writes Arthur Beesley, Political Reporter.
The three men are understood to have formed the opinion that the Taoiseach, Mr Ahern, had no appetite to sell off part of the airline. They are said to have concluded in October that they had done as much as they could with Aer Lingus, before they withdrew their plan to develop an investment proposal for the company.
As the Opposition attacked the Coalition over its failure to decide on the airline's future ownership and strategy, the Government spokeswoman said a decision would be made by Christmas.
The Taoiseach is widely believed to have decided against privatisation, so the debate on the airline's future still has the potential to create friction between Fianna Fáil and PDs.
A spokesman for the Tánaiste, Ms Harney, said last night that the company had a definite requirement for new investment, and added that all options should be kept in mind. He appeared to rule out State investment in the company, saying there were other demands on the Government's money.
Other informed sources confirmed that State investment was unlikely.
The Aer Lingus chief executive, Mr Willie Walsh, will leave the company next May, along with the airline's chief operations officer, Mr Séamus Kearney, and its chief financial officer, Mr Brian Dunne.
Their departure creates a management vacuum at the airline, which has been without a permanent chairman since last May.
The Minister for Transport, Mr Cullen, will tomorrow meet the interim chairman, Mr John Sharman, to plot a path forward for the company.
Informed sources said the resignation was not intended to be a ruse to force the Government into a decision on the future of the airline, which needs to raise hundreds of millions of euro to buy new planes.
Certain Government sources insisted that a partial sale was still possible, although other informed sources believed Mr Ahern was unlikely to sanction any private investment in the company soon.
The Fine Gael leader, Mr Enda Kenny, said in the Dáil that the question of the airline's future had been outstanding for 18 months "and nothing but clouds of confusion, rumour, innuendo and allegations are coming from members of the Government".