Madam, - I wish to put on record my absolute opposition to the Government selling a majority stake in Aer Lingus. How dare Ministers sell something that doesn't belong to them. Remember, the Government does not own Aer Lingus. The citizens of Ireland own it and the Government just holds it in trust for us. Generations of taxpayers, including my generation and that of my parents and grandparents, paid for Aer Lingus, investing several billions of euro in the process. The current Government, motivated more by ideology than common sense, plans to sell that asset for a fraction of its cost against the wishes of the majority of Irish people. Just who do they represent? Not me!
I am a former aircraft mechanic and I know there are far better ways to purchase new aircraft than a foolish flotation. I also know that the Government lied when it said that the EU would not allow it to invest in Aer Lingus. As the airline is profitable there is no reason why the State should not invest in Aer Lingus just as it already does in many other airlines such as Ryanair and British Airways through the National Pensions Reserve.
It now seems extremely likely that the right-wing, Thatcherite FF/PDs will proceed with this folly and I for one will never forgive them for selling our airline. - Yours, etc,
MARTIN O'KEEFFE, Beechfield Estate, Fermoy, Co Cork.
Madam, - So shares in Aer Lingus are to be "made available" to members of the public.
Pardon me, but I thought the public already owned the shares. - Yours, etc,
ANNE WALSH, Devonshire, Bermuda.
Madam, - I am not normally cynical but my boundaries have been stretched by the juxtaposition of the maturity of SSIAs, the proposed privatisation of Aer Lingus and the unconditional belief of the current Government that the electorate's memory is so short as to forget the Eircom debacle.
Reality check, please? - Yours, etc,
DAVIDA GOLDEN, Friars Hill, Wicklow.