As has been said (and ignored) this is about more than Clare and Limerick. This is about the whole West of Ireland. The one good thing thats come out of this is it is probably the first time the cities of Limerick and Galway are working together to make something happen. The people of Galway (and businesses in that area ) and further up the West Coast are just as concerned as the Mid West. The reality is a large group of people are in danger of loosing their jobs over this. Regardless of what Mannion or Dempsey says. And according to the Mayor of Galway, an impact study by IBEC will show this reality. This is not about protecting Shannon. Its about AL robbing vital slots from a profit making route to the West Coast of Ireland. Aisle2c's made probably the best comment on here to date imo..
BECAUSE what A.L. did isn't right. They have found (a suspiciously obvious) loophole in the Articles of Association. It was never intended that the slots in Shannon, Cork or Dublin would be moved.
However, AL are fighting dirty so why can't the people of the Mid-West defend their interests in return ? And if they fail, then the slots being moved from Cork (and 3 from Dublin) is only around the corner.
As I said earlier, there is a reason why these slots are so valuable, you and others seem to be ignoring this.