No plane sailing for Paschal with Aer Lingus bid in balance

There was a certain irony in the fact that the Transport and Tourism Minister and the Foreign Affairs Minister were unveiling the impressive list of far-flung edifices set to turn green for Paddy's Day, while the controversy over the mooted sell-off of our shamrocked airline is still in full flight.

Things are looking up (to paraphrase an old Aer Lingus ad) in tourism, and there were lots of satisfying statistics for Tourism Ireland chief Niall Gibbons to parade to the press about the increasing number of visitors flocking to the auld sod from all corners and continents, now that the country is hauling itself out of the deep doo-doo.

So between that bit of good news, and the fact that all sorts of fancy monuments are lining up to turn emerald on March 17, everything is 40 shades of green. "I sense a certain degree of envy among ministerial colleagues abroad," said Charlie with a soupcon of smugness.

Or maybe he's just enjoying his first time at drawing up the Santa's List of which minister goes where for Paddy's Day. So does he send the nice ministers to exotic locations, while the naughty ones get more prosaic trips? "I don't know of any naughty ministers," he dodged.

But all is not entirely rosy in the tourism garden. For if Willie Walsh of IAG manages to sweet-talk the Government into parting with the State's 25.1pc stake in Aer Lingus, thereby…um…green-lighting a takeover by the airline giant, it may well spark an unmerciful hullabaloo from a variety of unhappy campers.

There had been uproar in some (but not all) political and commercial quarters, ever since news broke that International Airlines Group has dangled its €1.36bn bid in front of a cash-friendly Coalition.

And so when the rattled Government showed every sign of reversing engines on the bid, Willie Walsh headed to Dublin to begin a two-day charm offensive.

In the Dublin Tourism office yesterday, Paschal announced that he was set to have a pow-wow with the IAG boss that afternoon. And the minister was determined to be as protective as a mama grizzly bear in the face of hunters sniffing around the national carrier. "I will make clear those issues that are of great concern to the Government and to outline the areas in which we will evaluate any potential bid," he declared.

And Paschal approved mightily of the fact that Willie was set to embark the following day on the Stations of the Cross otherwise known as an Oireachtas Committee grilling. "I think it's a very good idea that Deputy John O'Mahony has secured the appearance of IAG in front of the committee and I'm sure that it'll be a good exchange of views," he reckoned.

But the minister was proceeding as gingerly as an aircraft on an icy runway when it came to the question of whether a successful deal would imperil Aer Lingus's rather useful Dublin to Heathrow slots.

"I have to be very careful about what I say about any proposed offer that would come through to us," he said cagily.

Later in the evening, he released a post-powwow statement, declaring the meeting had been "a good opportunity to hear more detail in relation to IAG's proposal to make an offer for Aer Lingus".

Steady as she goes, Paschal. But if he manages to steer this Aer Lingus contretemps to a satisfactory conclusion, Charlie will probably give him the pick of the Paddy's Day junkets…sorry….trade missions.

The smart money would be on a trade mission to Nashville for the music-mad minister. Via Aer Lingus, of course.