For me, manual flying would be much preferable to watching an autopilot and especially since it seems one or two of the big airlines aren't what they once were, I think it's probably a great way to start a career. Fairly quick command, home most nights and a nice regional base too.
If it was announced as fully-funded, I have no doubt it would be just as popular as the Aer Lingus programme. The BA Cityflyer and Cityjet threads have been fairly quiet too, apparently applications for those are usually a few hundred rather than the few thousand Aer Lingus get. Just goes to show the great extent to which lack of cash is preventing people from applying.