Aer Lingus has been the national airline since 1936 and over the years we have endured many crises only to emerge as a strong, well-run airline that projects our national brand to the world. 

Since the emergence of Covid-19 we have been operating under the most stringent travel restrictions in Europe. At the same time, we are the only major European carrier NOT to have received ANY state assistance.

The demise of Aer Lingus, and the consequent loss of thousands of jobs, would be nothing short of a national tragedy.

Living on an island, we rely on air connectivity more than most countries. When this pandemic is over, or at least sufficiently mitigated, hundreds of thousands of jobs in Ireland will depend on this connectivity.

So time is of the essence - the government needs to support Aer Lingus if it wishes to continue with its current non-essential travel advice. If it doesn’t, this government will go down in history as the one that presided over the wind-up of Aer Lingus.