Ahern refuses to withdraw comment about Willie Walsh
Taoiseach Bertie Ahern has refused to withdraw remarks he made yesterday about former Aer Lingus chief executive Willie Walsh.
Mr Ahern told the Dáil that Mr Walsh and his associates, who proposed a management buy-out of Aer Lingus last year, wanted to "steal" the airline's assets.
A Government spokesman later said the use of the word "steal" was unfortunate, but Mr Ahern would not be retracting the remark.
The Taoiseach made the comment after admitted that the sale of the airline will not go ahead next month because market conditions are not right.
Fine Gael TD Olivia Mitchell has accused the Government of completely mishandling the sale.
"At least in Willie Walsh's day, Aer Lingus had assets worth selling," she said.
"Because they [the Government] procrastinated for so long about making a decision, they've really missed the boat and it seems to me that the value of Aer Lingus is going down every day because of the delays of this Government."
