Madam, - Stephen O'Byrnes's acerbic and inflammatory letter of January 15th accuses me of making demands that I would not make of a private sector employer.
Over a lifetime of dealing with private sector employers I have never encountered one who would dismantle a profitable company, with all of its implications for the workforce, without a coherent business plan. And if I did encounter such employers I would have expected them to substantiate the assurances offered, especially if they chose to ventilate them in the public domain.
I have written to the Minister for Transport, Mr Brennan, asking him to spell out exactly what his assurances of last week mean for my members at Aer Rianta.
I do not feel this is unreasonable, given our members' past experiences of industrial relations through the media in Aer Rianta. We must know if Mr Brennan's latest assurances on the security and quality of employment at Aer Rianta can be supported in tangible terms.
I would suggest that if anyone is living in a schizophrenic world it is Mr O'Byrnes. As one of the country's leading public relations consultants, who cut his teeth helping to found the Progressive Democrats, I would not have expected him to exacerbate an already fraught situation.
But perhaps his comments reflect what appears to be the ascendant view within the wealthy clique that populates the golden circle - namely that partnership has served its purpose and it is time to push the unions and workers who contributed so much to our economic growth back into the wilderness. - Yours, etc.,
JACK O'CONNOR, General President, SIPTU, Liberty Hall, Dublin 1.