Tommy Broughan (Dublin North East, Labour)

——and Kildare. On a famous day, when we all went over to the old terminal to stand up for Aer Rianta, there were 13 vacant Fianna Fáil seats. These people did not even have the gumption or the courage to face the workforce of Aer Rianta or Aer Lingus. I want those nine northside Fianna Fáil Deputies to show some courage tonight by voting for the motion and against the sale of Aer Lingus. Unfortunately, I well know that I will be disappointed.

Earlier today I was thinking back to the early days of Aer Lingus. Not only will a predecessor of the Taoiseach, the great Seán Lemass, be turning in his grave tonight, he is probably spinning in it when he thinks how this outrageous situation has come to pass. The decision was a grotesque betrayal of this country, the north side of Dublin and the workforce of Aer Lingus. It was a betrayal of a valiant workforce that had to endure wage cuts, job cutbacks and other desperate measures so that the company could be saved. They have 14.9% of the company but financial journalists tell us that they will have to raise at least €60 million if they want to hang on to that as the company is capitalised on the market. We believe that up to 40,000 jobs in our region are now in danger.

Aer Lingus is a symbol of the Fingal area and the airport is the central economic driver of the area. The only people who can stop this tonight are the nine Fianna Fáil Deputies from Dublin's north side, as well as those from Meath and Kildare. I spoke today to someone who had been a senior accountant with Ryanair until he joined RTE a few years ago. He told me about the interesting prospects in long-haul flights for Aer Lingus as it is currently organised. Those prospects will start to disappear as soon as this decision takes effect.

Last Wednesday was a day of infamy for the country, the Government and the Taoiseach. On the north side of Dublin, we will make certain that those who vote against this motion tonight will pay a horrific price in 2007.

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