Madam, - Following his "steal the assets" diversion, the Taoiseach is now trying another distraction when he says: "Pat Rabbitte was making the point that privatisation was terrible but a management buyout was all right" (The Irish Times, May 20th). Of course I never made any such point.
Labour has consistently opposed ceding control of the national airline to private interests. However, Mr Ahern's then Minister for Transport, Seamus Brennan, did support the management buyout (see The Irish Times, July 7th, 2004).
The point I was making was that at the time Mr Walsh tried to take Aer Lingus private, market conditions were better. And the unanswered question remains: does the Government intend to proceed despite deteriorating market sentiment? And if so, when? - Yours, etc,
PAT RABBITTE, Leader, The Labour Party, Dáil Éireann, Dublin 2.
Madam, - I fly frequently to Belgium and France using either Ryanair or Aer Lingus depending on the price. What a pleasure it is when one goes by Aer Lingus. Your boarding pass has a seat number printed on it so there is no need to beat your way through a manic search for seats.
The cabin crew on Aer Lingus always seem to be cheerful and in tune with themselves whereas on Ryanair you get the impression that they are galley staff pulling the oars in some medieval free-enterprise pirate raider. It's a pleasure to be able to go down to the railway station below Charles De Gaulle airport and travel onward by train (very cheap in France). Compare that with Ryanair's "Paris" destination, Beauvais airport - only an hour from Paris by bus.
In the past two years our national carrier has reduced its prices and it is often possible to get a fare that matches Ryanair's. I see no reason for selling off a wonderful and nationally strategic service that has managed to compete with Ryanair and do it cheerfully.
Since Aer Lingus is profitable and in my view has a great future, why do we have to sell a chunk of this national treasure to buy more planes?
What is wrong with us? Can't we ever get it right when it comes to our national treasures? - Yours, etc,
FRANK KAVANAGH, Hillside Road, Greystones, Co Wicklow.