The Irish Emigrant - July 6: European Court rules Ryanair can retain stake in Aer Lingus

Both Ryanair and Aer Lingus have welcomed a ruling by the European Court of Justice which confirms that the European Commission was correct in 2006 when it prevented Ryanair from taking over the national carrier while allowing the low cost carrier to retain its 29.8% stake in Aer Lingus.

Aer Lingus chairman Colm Barrington sees the ban as ongoing while Ryanair notes that there is nothing in the ruling to prevent a future bid. Mr Barrington did admit to disappointment that Ryanair was not being forced to dispose of its stake in Aer Lingus.

A statement from Ryanair noted that its offers for Aer Lingus contained guarantees on growing traffic, fleet, jobs and profitability, while in the intervening period "Aer Lingus has become a small peripheral regional airline with declining traffic, fleet, jobs and is reporting substantial losses".

No one ready to challenge Cowen

There has been much talk over the past two days, most of it on RTÉ radio and television, over discontent within the Fianna Fáil Parliamentary Party. The party has already lost five TDs, one who resigned from the party and four who either resigned from the Parliamentary Party or were expelled from it. Others who remain within the fold are said to be unhappy with what they claim is a lack of leadership being shown by Taoiseach Brian Cowen.

Noel O'Flynn (Cork North Central) and Seán Power (Kildare South) are the only two to voice concerns publicly while a number of Ministers and backbenchers have come out in support of Mr Cowen.

While no one appears ready to challenge Mr Cowen at today's Parliamentary Party meeting it is expected that he will be asked how he proposes to raise his own and the party's opinion poll ratings.

Asylum Seekers refuse to move

A bus which was due to transport a number of asylum seekers from the Mosney accommodation centre to a Dublin city hostel remains at Mosney as those selected for transfer have refused to move. About 80 asylum seekers have been staging a protest throughout the morning.

The Department of Justice's plan is to relocate about 150 of the 800 Mosney residents to generate savings of €1.8m.

Woman critical after assault

A 39-year-old man walked into Blanchardstown Garda Station yesterday and told gardaí that he had assaulted a woman at a house in Mulhuddart. Soon afterwards a woman with serious head injuries was found in the house. She had been beaten on the head with a hammer while she slept in her bed and is now in a critical condition in hospital. The man remains in custody.

Interpol seek Galway man

Interpol has listed Galwegian John "Fozzy" Griffin (43) on its most wanted list after gardaí said they wanted to question him about the murder of Emer O'Loughlin (23), a native of Ennistymon, Co. Clare. The body of the Galway-Mayo Institute of Technology art student was found in a burnt-out caravan on the Clare-Galway border on April 8, 2005. Her body was exhumed in May of this year and a murder investigation launched after it was established that her throat had been cut.

Gardaí believe that Griffin tried to fake his death by leaving clothes on a cliff top on the Aran Islands. It is suspected that he has been living on the Continent.

Today's Papers

There is no agreement among the papers this morning on the main story. The Irish Times reports on EU reaction to part of Ireland's bank rescue plan with "EU expresses grave doubts over State's survival plan for Anglo"; the Irish Examiner stays with the health service under the headline "Junior doctor shortage puts lives at risk"; and the Irish Independent goes with the cash shortfall experienced by the National Roads Authority with "Major road, rail projects axed as cash pile runs out".

The Irish News carries a photograph of golfers Tiger Woods and Darren Clarke but the main story concerns what it sees as excessive spending under the NHS; the headline reads "Mileage millions drain NHS".