‘Bad blood in this dispute worries me’ – Taoiseach Simon Harris says Aer Lingus and pilots shouldn’t leave room ‘until they sort this out’

He said both parties need to resolve the dispute as Aer Lingus and trade union representatives will meet again at the Labour Court on Monday.

Speaking to Newstalk’s Anton Savage Show, he said: “There has never been an industrial relations dispute in the history of the State, or any state, that ends without dialogue, engagement and compromise.

“They’re going to get there, could they just get there without putting us all through the misery that comes in the meantime? The State already has made an intervention through the Labour Court.

“Both sides need to dig deeper, there is absolutely zero public support for this action. That’s not, by the way, me letting the employer off the hook,” he added.

On Saturday, hundreds of Aer Lingus pilots marched around Dublin Airport during an eight-hour strike in a dispute with the airline over pay.

Aer Lingus pilots march around Dublin Airport as eight-hour strike begins

“Most Irish people are decent and full of common sense. They want to see this resolved and they believe people should, instead of bringing the planes out of the sky and not allowing people to go on their summer holidays, they should lock themselves in a room and not leave the room until they sort this out.

“Anybody has a right to put in a pay claim. The employer side also needs to dig deep, there has to be a compromise – and that’s how you resolve disputes.

“The Government will not be found wanting in terms of making the industrial relations mechanism the state-available. We don’t own Aer Lingus. I have no tolerance for any site to this dispute.”

He added this dispute has to be resolved as Ireland, as an island relies on “connectivity”.

“It worries me that there is such clearly an amount of bad blood in this dispute, that the level of overwhelming rejection of any offer from Aer Lingus or other institutions, that does have to tell me something.

“If all of your pilots employees are voting by such large numbers, we shouldn’t ignore that either. So whilst I’m critical of the action, I’m also saying: ‘Hang on a second, if so 90pc of people or more are rejecting the offer that doesn’t suggest to me that there’s good working relations in Aer Lingus and that should be a cause for concern as well’.

“We are an island nation, we do rely on connectivity.

“The Government needs two parties to this dispute to resolve it, not because the Government needs it, because the people of Ireland need it – there’s people who’ve been saving all year, putting a few bob aside to bring the kids on a summer holiday,” he said.

Separately, Mr Harris also praised Natasha O’Brien whose case has drawn nationwide attention after the soldier who beat her up avoided going to jail.

“We have a zero-tolerance policy in this country to domestic sexual and gender-based violence.

“That involves all of us changing the culture, in our workplaces, in our homes, in our communities, and ultimately in the country – and every single organisation, institution has to change too.

“I am frustrated and concerned.

“Thank God for Natasha O’Brien, because imagine had she come out of that court and gotten home that evening, and said: ‘That’s that’. She didn’t.

“I want to acknowledge this, as a result of her actions, there are now good follow-up actions that are happening and are essential,” he said.