:: press release ::

October 6, 2008

Ross welcomes flybe’s backtrack on disgraceful belfast comments

East Antrim MLA Alastair Ross has welcomed Flybe’s apology after it was discovered that they had used inappropriate language in their description of Belfast.

Mr Ross said, ‘I was appalled when I read Flybe’s comments about Belfast and welcomed the Party Leader’s call for an apology from them.

On one of the web pages it described our capital in the following disgraceful way:

“Belfast and Northern Ireland more generally, have put the troubles of British occupation behind them and increasingly come into the fold of the Republic as a burgeoning city hoping to reinvent itself.”

Now that this has been brought to Flybe’s attention I welcome their apology for the offence caused and the action they are taking to remove such antagonistic and unprofessional language from websites associated with their company name.

It is a poor reflection of this company when such a fundamental error has been made with regard to another region of the United Kingdom. Northern Ireland is British and very proud to be so; the days when the threat of being usurped by the Republic of Ireland are well and truly over and I am glad that Flybe has distanced itself from the inappropriate and factually inaccurate description.’