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MLAs will return to Stormont on Tuesday to discuss controversial government plans to deal with legacy in Northern Ireland Liam McBurney

Stormont politicians reject UK government plans for Troubles 'amnesty'

The Assembly was recalled from its summer recess as anger grows over proposals to deal with legacy in NI.

LAST UPDATE | 20 Jul 2021

NORTHERN IRELAND’S ASSEMBLY has rejected a controversial UK government plan to ban prosecutions for Troubles murders.

In a recalled sitting of the devolved legislature, members backed a non-binding motion denouncing the contentious proposals to introduce a statute of limitations on crimes committed during the Northern Ireland conflict.

The motion, tabled by SDLP deputy leader Nichola Mallon, passed by way of an oral vote, without any dissenting voices, at the end of a two-hour debate at Stormont.

Earlier, Mallon told the chamber that a prosecution amnesty would not be acceptable in any other modern democracy in the world.

Opening the debate, she accused the UK government of attempting to sweep victims’ pain under the carpet.

She said the proposals would let “perpetrators, state and paramilitary, walk free and instead condemn the victims and their families to a lifetime of pain and suffering through the denial of hope, truth and justice”.

featureimage PA PA

Mallon branded the proposals a “unilateral move” by the UK government to deliver a “Tory party answer to a problem created by that same party and its backbench MPs”.

Backbenchers who have created a bogus myth that an endless parade of veterans are being dragged through the courts here to answer for their past.

“When the fact is that is not true,” she said.

“Rather than debunk the myth and deal in facts, Boris Johnson and Brandon Lewis have decided to cruelly abandon victims and survivors as they play to the gallery.”

As the debate took place in Belfast, some victims of terrorism travelled to Downing Street in London to express opposition.

Other campaigners gathered outside Parliament Buildings at Stormont.

The UK’s Northern Ireland Secretary Brandon Lewis announced last week that he intends to introduce legislation to create a proposed statute of limitations which would end all prosecutions for incidents up to April 1998 and would apply to military veterans as well as ex-paramilitaries.

The proposals, which UK Prime Minister Johnson said would allow Northern Ireland to “draw a line under the Troubles”, would also end all legacy inquests and civil actions related to the conflict.

But the plan has been heavily criticised by all the main political parties in Northern Ireland as well as the Irish Government, and a range of victims’ and survivors’ groups.

Mallon said the amnesty proposal had devastated and re-traumatised survivors and bereaved families.

“It hasn’t drawn a line.

“It has made the situation worse,” she said.

The Stormont minister added: “This British Government, in doing this, is telling families that their loved one’s life didn’t matter, that their lives, their families’ loss isn’t worthy enough to be properly investigated in a process with integrity.

“It is disgusting and, Mr Speaker, it would not be acceptable in any other modern democracy in the world – and it cannot, and must not, be deemed acceptable here.”

Mallon urged all Stormont parties to unite in their opposition to the amnesty and work together to develop an agreed way forward on dealing with the past.

She said a failure to do so in recent years had created the opportunity for the UK Government to step in and propose the statute of limitations.

Mallon urged parties to recommit to the stalled 2014 Stormont House Agreement proposals, which included an independent investigations unit.

Addressing the chamber during the debate, DUP MLA Mervyn Storey said victims “cannot and should not be ignored in this way”.

“The Secretary of State seems to have chosen a path which finds equivalence between the soldier and police officer, and those who planted the bomb or pulled the trigger,” he said.

“This is morally reprehensible.”

The DUP MLA also criticised Sinn Fein for accusing the UK Government of “covering up the truth”, highlighting that the IRA was responsible for the vast majority of Troubles crimes.

Sinn Fein deputy First Minister Michelle O’Neill said the proposals would deny bereaved families their rights.

“The British political system cannot handle the truth,” she told MLAs.

“The British Government fears the bravery, the courage and resilience of the families.”

O’Neill added: “The legacy proposals to deny families any legal redress to justice is a statement of moral bankruptcy.

“The British Government approach is cynical because they’re seeking to insulate their forces from legal challenges by shutting down the established legal options that are open to families.

“Today we must send a very clear message that any political attempts to interfere in live and pending legal proceedings will be resisted by everyone across this House.”

Ulster Unionist Party leader Doug Beattie voiced opposition to any move toward an amnesty.

“We have been quite clear that the soldier, the policeman, a terrorist, a member of the public or a politician, if you break the law, then you should face the law,” he said.

“And everybody deserves the opportunity to get justice.

“It doesn’t mean they always will, but we cannot take away that hope.”

However, Beattie also criticised the 2014 Stormont House legacy proposals, highlighting that they did not envisage a reinvestigation of crimes, other than murders.

Alliance Party leader Naomi Long said the legacy proposals were “neither victim-centred or victim-focused”.

“To the contrary, both the proposals and how they have spun out in the media before any victims groups were even aware they were coming have re-traumatised many families, compounded the hurt and sense of abandonment which they feel and has sought to rob them of any remaining hope they had that they might ever see justice for their loved ones,” she said.

Long also queried “what kind of message” the legacy proposals send to those still engaged in terrorism and to their victims.

“The Secretary of State’s proposals are profoundly flawed and not grounded on the needs of victims’ families for truth and justice,” she said.

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    Mute KB
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    Jul 1st 2024, 9:23 AM

    People seem to be taking this pay claim personally. Unlike comparisons being made in this comments section, this is no longer a state company or a semi state, it has long been privatised. I would imagine any potential increase to fares would be minimal and likely only a few euros. What concerns me more is how the management team seem to be running the place to the ground with zero repercussions to their jobs and pay. There is no consideration to their staff, or to us, their passengers. The focus of the management is purely to get the most money out of us and then move on to their next airline and exploit staff and passengers there.

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    Mute John D Doe
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    Jul 2nd 2024, 12:35 AM

    @KB: fire 5 a day until they see sense

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    Mute KB
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    Jul 2nd 2024, 6:32 AM

    @John D Doe: hope you mean 5 management

    35
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    Mute Terry Molloy
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    Jul 1st 2024, 8:42 AM

    Meanwhile, it takes the heat of the Government at thousands of young Gentlemen come for a better life, maybe they are Pilots

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    Mute Tom Kelly
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    Jul 1st 2024, 11:19 AM

    @Terry Molloy: Think you need some fresh air.. the majority of people can digest more than one story!!! As for “Takes the heat off” .. that comment just shows you come with an agenda.

    47
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    Mute Terry Molloy
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    Jul 1st 2024, 1:15 PM

    @Tom Kelly: Not really Tom, but don’t you think people deserve a holiday after all that has happened in the last few years and some have saved for a few years for a holiday, but this smoke screen doesn’t hide other major problems in this country…just and observation that all

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    Mute Jen McC
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    Jul 1st 2024, 11:50 PM

    @Terry Molloy: I’m going to need stats, Terry. Seeing as it’s common knowledge that refugees make up very little of the population.

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    Mute Alan Wright
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    Jul 2nd 2024, 5:13 AM

    @Jen McC: Well, I’m for immigration, my partner is not Irish born, but is an Irish citizen now. But the stats are over: 136k refugees in Ireland (104 – Ukrainian, 32 – not Ukrainian). Of the non-ukrainian (32k), 20k of those have arrived so far in 2024. Links will be below. Of a population of approx. 5.2 million, a total of 1.15 million are foreign born (I.e. 1/5 of the population. Links in next comment due to max word amount.

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    Mute Andrew Lavelle
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    Jul 2nd 2024, 8:18 AM

    @Alan Wright: careful Alan. People are not interested in facts.

    4
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    Mute Lydia Mcloughlin
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    Jul 1st 2024, 7:32 AM

    400% increase on 2022, was this not just after Covid lock down? Such increases would not have been hard!

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    Mute hi from heaven
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    Jul 1st 2024, 7:42 AM

    @Lydia Mcloughlin: ialpa pilots were 100% less productive on Saturday morning than they were a year ago…their wages should be cut
    Easy to make stats suit any argument

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    Mute another one? what's going on is the semi state sec
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    Jul 1st 2024, 8:22 AM

    @Lydia Mcloughlin: lockdown was 2020 and 2021. 2022 was a busy year for the airline. Dublin airport had 28.1 million passengers in 2022. Similar to 2016/17…… Last year was similar to 2019

    36
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    Mute hi from heaven
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    Jul 1st 2024, 8:30 AM

    @another one? what’s going on is the semi state sec:
    firstly dublin Airport and aer lingus are different companies
    Also alot of debt from2020 and 2021 would have been written off in 2022

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    Mute another one? what's going on is the semi state sec
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    Jul 1st 2024, 8:45 AM

    @hi from heaven: Firstly, all of Aerlingus passenger in Dublin are counted in Dublin airport figures because guess what? They use Dublin airport to get on Aerlingus planes don’t they!!!…..it’s to give an indication of how travel bounced back.

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    Mute Daniel Sullivan
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    Jul 1st 2024, 10:23 AM

    @Lydia Mcloughlin: Aer Lingus lost about €700 million across 2020 and 2021.

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    Mute Brian
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    Jul 1st 2024, 11:50 PM

    @Daniel Sullivan: And that coincided with what exactly? The industry as a whole lost 168 billion in 2020 alone.. its very important to contextualise things don’t you think.. And AL pilot’s suffered a 50% pay reduction for long periods during the years you mention .. Again context is key.

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    Mute Chris Wilson
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    Jul 1st 2024, 7:22 AM

    2 hour delay last night flying to Croatia. Aer Lingus is shambles.

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    Mute Willie Marty
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    Jul 1st 2024, 7:32 AM

    @Chris Wilson: lucky to get going .Enjoy Croatia beautifull country and hope you get back safely and on time.

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    Mute hi from heaven
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    Jul 1st 2024, 7:39 AM

    @Chris Wilson: no, aer lingus pilots are a disgrace…
    Every time people get wages and payouts (rte executives and charity top brass members)of 200k and above it just makes the rest of us poorer..
    After buying the 750k house and two 100k cars , what else do these people do with the money..at 45 these people have money to burn and buy 2nd and 3rd houses for renting out which inflates the cost of houses for people who earn a good salary of 60000 euro…

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    Mute Michael o Dwyer
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    Jul 1st 2024, 7:44 AM

    @Chris Wilson: sure a 2 hr delay on flights is just par for the course whether with Ryanair or ar Lingus

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    Mute Chris Wilson
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    Jul 1st 2024, 7:45 AM

    @Willie Marty: oh i will. Thank you

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    Mute Paul O'Mahoney
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    Jul 1st 2024, 8:28 AM

    @hi from heaven: I hope that is an attempt at humour, if its not then it is probably the most ignorant economic analysis I’ve ever seen and I’ve seen some doozies.

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    Mute another one? what's going on is the semi state sec
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    Jul 1st 2024, 8:30 AM

    @hi from heaven: Around half of their salary is tax so it supports the state. 200k is around 98.5k after deductions…… Should people not be paid big money for big important jobs?!?! These lads earn it….. Cost of living is 20%+, this increase would add about €4.50 to a fare based on last year’s passenger numbers and EI would maintain the same profit. That’s a 6.5% increase on a €70 fare.

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    Mute Ger Whelan
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    Jul 1st 2024, 8:32 AM

    @hi from heaven: So I take it you have never asked for a pay rise? You wouldn’t want others to get poorer just so you could have a few extra euros would you?

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    Mute Mick Duvanny
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    Jul 1st 2024, 8:35 AM

    @another one? what’s going on is the semi state sec: Your numbers are all off. They might be right if you are talking about the last 200k of their salary assuming the rest is above the top tax rate already and they didn’t hive any of it off to pensions. Also a 6.5% ticket price increase just to fund pilot salary rises? What about the rest of the staff?

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    Mute hi from heaven
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    Jul 1st 2024, 9:50 AM

    @another one? what’s going on is the semi state sec:
    98.5k didn’t realise aer lingus was not allowing them to avail of the 20% tax rate up to 42k or their tax free allowance of 3750 or equivalent depending on their marital status

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    Mute Sean Parker
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    Jul 1st 2024, 10:06 AM

    @Chris Wilson: we were due back from Turkey Saturday, got to airport , flight cancelled , flocked to a manky hotel by the Turkish airport staff. Not one email or message from AL, got the toddler to bed maybe midnight, couldn’t sleep as didn’t know when we needed to be back airport. Flight was 2pm next day, this was delayed an hour and half, got in the plane and pilot tells us we don’t have enough fuel to get to Dublin so we had to stop in Rome to re fuel , an hour and half on the ground there. 7 hours in total on the flight. Pilot bad mouthing aer lingus the whole way saying when he left Dublin sat he knew he wasn’t returning that day but Al never told yous or the cabin crew. And the only reason they left Dublin late is AL de crewed the flight for no reason and had to re crew.

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    Mute biggybald
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    Jul 1st 2024, 11:20 AM

    @hi from heaven: You could always invest in flight school or extra education for the other positions you’ve mentioned and earn this kind of pay if you feel you’re getting poorer.

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    Mute Dominic Leleu
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    Jul 2nd 2024, 8:31 AM

    @another one? what’s going on is the semi state sec: so we should do the same and you would support that.

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    Mute David Bergin
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    Jul 1st 2024, 9:42 AM

    Give em few quid and let’s all go on a summer holiday

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    Mute John D Doe
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    Jul 1st 2024, 9:00 AM

    Start handing out a few P45s

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    Mute Shane Cormican
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    Jul 1st 2024, 2:27 PM

    @John D Doe: time to loose all the gold braiding too! So few airlines have that now!!

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    Mute Chaotic State
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    Jul 1st 2024, 9:01 AM

    Nobody should be paid more than the Taoiseach or Tánaiste to fly a plane.

    48
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    Mute Ger Whelan
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    Jul 1st 2024, 9:05 AM

    @Chaotic State: Should singers be paid less than our leaders for singing a song? Should football players be paid less than our leaders for kicking a ball around for 90 mins? Where do you draw the line at who gets paid more than our leaders?

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    Mute Terry Molloy
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    Jul 1st 2024, 9:16 AM

    @Chaotic State: everyone should be paid more that them

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    Mute New Boy
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    Jul 1st 2024, 10:19 AM

    @Chaotic State: They should not be paid

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    Mute Sandra Molloy
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    Jul 1st 2024, 1:17 PM

    Aer Shambles & their ransomers need to read the room nationally. Neither side has a bucket load of sympathy for either cause. We want what you’ve already marketed, taken money for and issued booking references. Lets give you both the benefit of saying it again YOUR INTERNAL BUSINESS OPERATIONS ARE NONE OF OUR BUSINESS, we paid, our job is to sort our liquids & gels, be at the gate on time and obey the fasten seatbelt sign. Both parties go act like professionals today, get the job done or just lock the gate permanently.

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    Mute Éanna o Sca
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    Jul 1st 2024, 2:27 PM

    @Sandra Molloy: or if pilots are so unhappy..leave!! No one is putting a gun to their head to stay

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    Mute Mike B
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    Jul 1st 2024, 4:32 PM

    @Éanna o Sca: that’s not how unions work, if AL succeeds at union busting it will set a precedent, and future pilots will refuse to work there which will lead to AL’s demise and goodbye to our “national airline” which was sold off by the government

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    Mute David Fox
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    Jul 1st 2024, 9:05 AM

    Disgraceful greedy aholes. They get paid to fly a glorified bus. I’d sack the lot of them

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    Mute Ger Whelan
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    Jul 1st 2024, 9:09 AM

    @David Fox: A glorified bus? You could literally jump in a bus driver’s seat right now and drive the bus without any training, jump in pilots seat and try to fly a plane without training and see how you get on.

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    Mute Thomas Devlin
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    Jul 1st 2024, 9:24 AM

    @David Fox: does that 9 on your profile signify your IQ.? Just asking.

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    Mute orb7eckn
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    Jul 1st 2024, 10:42 AM

    @Ger Whelan: the lads that flew the planes in 9-11 got on okay. You also need training and a different licence for a bus. You are obviously one of them pilots that think they are above everyone. Must be great up on that pedestal while hard working people miss out on holidays. Will never fly aer Lingus again, in fact hope they go bust and see them pilots rocking up to the dole queue in their fancy cars.

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    Mute KB
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    Jul 1st 2024, 10:45 AM

    @orb7eckn: this is a very insensitive comment. I can’t believe you would bring that up or that you were even able to post such a comment. Anyway since you did, a bit of further research by yourself will show that they undertook pilot training.

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    Mute orb7eckn
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    Jul 1st 2024, 11:44 AM

    @KB: I know they did along with Microsoft flight simulator. They make it expensive to restrict access, it’s like a private school mentality. No sympathy for the silver spoon brigade

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    Mute Ger Whelan
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    Jul 1st 2024, 12:06 PM

    @orb7eckn: could the hijackers have carried out their plans with the time they spent on training simulators?. So thanks for proving you need training to fly a plane.

    17
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    Mute KB
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    Jul 1st 2024, 12:13 PM

    @orb7eckn: any worker deserves a pay increase year on year to ensure that their pay affords them the same purchasing power when taking inflation into account. That is what is happening here. The silver spoon brigade you speak of are the ones in management hiding behind a poorly spoken and ill advised corporate affairs person. They have failed to provide enough staff and taken our money for bookings that they can’t accommodate. They have had two years to resolve this situation and have failed and there is no accountability. I can’t stand people commanding c level salaries when they can’t do their jobs. CEO, CFO and Donal the mouthpiece took home €2.8 mill between them in 2022 and this is what they have to show for it!

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    Mute Anthony Curran
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    Jul 1st 2024, 11:07 PM

    @orb7eckn: Didn’t the “lads” on 9/11 crash the planes? Anyone can crash a plane, you try landing one in a strong gale force crosswind and let me know how you get on.

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    Mute Regular John
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    Jul 2nd 2024, 8:02 AM

    @Anthony Curran: Do the planes not land themselves now ?

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    Mute Karl Paul
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    Jul 1st 2024, 9:29 AM

    Apropos of nothing:

    A colon can completely change the meaning of a sentence.
    For example.. Roger ate his friend’s lunch. Roger ate his friend’s colon.

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    Mute Pat Barry
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    Jul 1st 2024, 6:52 PM

    Somebody’s been telling porkies, apparently the company has offered 12.25%, and more for increased productivity (Aer Lingus pilots fly less hours than Ryanair’s/ less hours than the maximum permitted) and yet Mark Tighe says the company “would not compromise at all”.

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    Mute Pat Barry
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    Jul 1st 2024, 5:08 PM

    Mark Tighe said the increase sought will cost the company €5M per annum, seems very low, 800 pilots, an average of €6,250 a piece?

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    Mute F Fitzgerald
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    Jul 2nd 2024, 12:44 AM

    @Pat Barry: In fairness, they’re calling it an increase now? When they all took pay cuts during lockdown, was that a decrease? Seems like fair pay restoration to me.

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    Mute Alan Moloney
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    Jul 1st 2024, 5:58 PM

    Everyone that’s is working should be given a payrise by law planty of money

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    Mute vxQ6cYzh
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    Jul 2nd 2024, 2:35 AM

    Pilots akin to piles, pains in the rear exit. Greedy sods holding the ordinary person to ransom.

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