Michael O'Leary was before the Joint Committee on Transport today.

Micheal's visit was like that of an ageing wealthy bachelor, who was seeking the hand of the young Virgin Daughter of the aged couple who had only one child.

The suitor explained that the girl's future was secure, only if she married, that he wished to have her, or the rest of her , at any cost, that they were as well to be resigned to her fate, as his trophy bride, that he would do right by her, that he would be good for, that he was of benevolent character, that at least they knew his people, that she would aways be near her home with him, and that since her only security was in wedlock, her only other choices were to wed a Parisian, or a Frankfurter, or an Englishman, and that she could not survive as the Virgin Beauty Queen that she was in her youth.

Beside since he owned all the land and water around their farm she could not compete with him, if she tried to carry on the farm on her own, when they were gone.

'It would be better for Aer Lingus to be owned by a man from Mullingar who guarantees no fuel surcharges, than some anonymous person in Frankfurt or Paris', he said.


http://www.rte.ie/news/2008/0716/air.html

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I actually found this bit more interestingLooking at the Committee transcript, he did his best to introduce a note of reality to the discussion. Predictably, the honourable members spent their time clutching at straws to find a way of preventing Dublin. Aine Brady was notable as announcing her allegience to Galway, which Kildare North voters might consider before handing her a seat the next time out. I've very little time for assiduous constituency workers, but electing someone who is working for someone else's constituency seems frankly bizarre.

Anyway, my fav bits of reality dawning, and being quickly ignored.And

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It was interesting that the two viable regional airports were the two that Ryanair fly into

I'm not really sure that Kerry is more viable than Waterford.

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He was clear in stating that supporting uneconomic routes via PSO is a waste of money and attempts by politicians to look after local interests by having an airport is a waste of time and money that the country cannot afford.

The building of €200 million terminals in airports that cater for 3 million people a year is part of the Culchie mentality "Dublin has this big airport so we must have it", overlooking the fact that people given the option still want to go to Dublin.

Money spent on upgrading the train services is better value for money for the taxpayer.

MO'L is pretty close to the truth in his submission.

Regional airports cannot survive so a cull is perhaps a good idea.

If the Dublin Metro had served Heuston that may have had some point.

I take it you're refering to Cork with the E200m terminal? You might want to look at what actually went in there in terms of new access roads and new airport infrastructure as well. It wasn't just the terminal even though it makes a good soundbite.

On a pro-rated basis, it's the equivalent of spending E1.2bn in Dublin, which with Pier D, the Metro, the new runway and the new terminal will easily be accomplished.

If you're searching for wasted money, the 30m spent on Waterford, which doesn't even handle 100K passengers is a much bigger issue.

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MO'L has been clear there is no need to spend €1.2 in Dublin.

Cork Airport is a White Elephant that couldn't exist as a stand alone business. Its passenger numbers are going nowhere, it doesn't have the population to serve the airport.

Marseille which serves a much bigger area built a terminal for €10 Million.

The problem with Michael O'Leary is that he thinks of what is good for Ryanair, while other people have to think of what is good for Ireland. For example, Michael O'Leary has no interest in making Dublin's second runway more than 2km. He can get anywhere he needs at that length.

Going back to Cork Airport, so many inaccuracies.

"Its passenger numbers are going nowhere" - They doubled between 2000 and 2007.

"it doesn't have the population to serve the airport." - Well, we know it has the population to serve 3.2 million passengers. And yet the old terminal was designed for 1.1 million, so it definitely needed replacing.

"Marseille which serves a much bigger area built a terminal for €10 Million." - Marseille had an exiting terminal and built a specific one for Lo Cost airlines. It didn't upgrade any of the other airport facilities. Cork also built access roads, a multi-storey car park, a new control tower, a new fire station and new airport office facilities. Effectively, it took a 1960s airfield and gave it the infrastructure to last for another 50 years. And even with all the argument about who gets the debt, it's only working out at E1.50 per passenger per year to service it.

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Very pertinent points, IMHO. Ryanair is a success, and Michael O'Leary is worth listening to. But at the end of the day he has no interest in anything other than what he needs to run low fares routes within Europe. He has a mild interest in developing a transatlantic business - but makes it very clear in his contributions to the Committee that he's thinking in terms of linking Europe to the US, so Ireland might not even feature in his plans.

On the other hand, we know that Dublin could attract more long haul business with a longer runway. It just won't be Ryanair.

That said, I'd temper everything we might say about air transport with the thought that oil prices won't be going down any time soon, nor will environmental concerns be going away. That frankly does make me wonder whether we need any of this investment in the long term.Indeed, and it should be acknowledged that Cork Airport achieved this despite a problematic location. One of those lost opportunities is what might have been achieved if Cork, and not Shannon, had guaranteed US flights and a special tax district in the days when such measures were possible. If we're serious about regional development we should be noticing where there are areas with genuine strengths that can be built on. All the money poured into Shannon has left no lasting legacy. We might as well have poured it into the sea.

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