Given the land border I think the additional €17/€18 added for an 'environmental tax' to flights leaving from Belfast is extremely detrimental to maintaining the air travel industry in NI.
Did you feel the same when ROI added 10e to departures and NI had nothing...
Especially when you consider that a lot of the monies being gathered up so enthusiastically into Treasury in London were partly handed over sharpish to bail out ROI not so long ago, enabling them to turn the air tax issue against NI, rather than having to actually increase taxes to address the financial problem they had created for themselves!
Still - stiff upper lip, old chap!!
And the point, London won't turn down the profit to be made from it and remember NI needs ROI more than ROI needs NI so it was in the UK interests or us English would be making up the even bigger hole in finances.
Biggest problem in NI is it was being shelled from the recession for many years when the rest of the UK has made cuts. Credit card as reached it's limit!
To add to the problem SF can't do anything in NI because they will damage their chances in the ROI, they have being caught out for double standards to much!