Fears Over Sale Of Aer Lingus
It now appears that government TDs will try to block the sale of Aer Lingus.
Backbenchers from both Fine Gael and Labour have serious problems with the proposals and even Joan Burton says she's not convinced.
The Tánaiste told the weekly meeting of the Labour parliamentary party last night that she's still to be convinced of whether the state should hand over its 25 per cent stake in the airline, in exchange for roughly 340 million million.
And at least seven of her TDs have serious concerns about any sale believing that selling the airline could put jobs at risk in their constituencies near Dublin, Cork and Shannon airports.
Serious concerns were also expressed at the weekly meeting of the Fine Gael parliamentary party, where the transport minister Paschal Donohoe tried to give some assurances that the government would not sell if it didn't have a guarantee about keeping links from London to Irish airports.
The issue's set to be discussed again today at a meeting of the Oireachtas Transport committee, with chambers of commerce, pilots, the IDA and airline workers all likely to say they have fears for their futures if Aer Lingus is sold.