Press Release

Derry City Council not to Appeal to High Court on
Information Tribunal Decision

Wednesday, 20 December 2006

Derry City Council has decided not to appeal the Information Tribunal’s decision and to put arrangements in place to release the agreement, under the Freedom of Information Act, that it reached in 1999 for the London Stansted route.

Members considered in detail the comments of the Information Tribunal and believed that the commercial risk associated with releasing the agreement was reduced significantly as the agreement no longer exists. A spokesperson for Derry City Council commented:

“The Information Tribunal’s decision differs significantly from the Information Commissioner decision as it recognised Council acted appropriately and the release of the financial information would adversely affect the economic interests of the City of Derry Airport, the Council and the economy of the region.”

The Council has always acted in an effort to protect public investment in a public asset from aggressive competition that exists from other private airport operators and airlines. This was the context of the original Freedom of Information decision that in January 2005.

“The information to be released to the requestor relates to the agreement that was reached in 1999. Following the publication of new EU Guidelines that limited start-up support to five years, Council ended its agreement with Ryanair for the London Stansted route. Therefore it was considered the risk was significantly reduced and members of Derry City Council agreed to release the information”.

Ends

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