There's an excellent book in softback at the moment, simply titled 'Ryanair', written by an Irish journo named Siobhan Creighton. I recommend it to you. As someone who knows many of the characters and stories personally I can vouch for its accuracy. Its an absorbing and entertaining read.
The one thing that struck me from the book is how O'Leary has cheekily grabbed all the credit for various fundamentals in the company - which other members of management actually had to fight against him to introduce. Like Conor McCarthys 30mins turnarounds, which Micko vehemently resisted until overruled by Tony Ryan.
And even the Ryanair.com website, which was sneaked in the backdoor as part of a new telesales handling package by a smart lady in sales and advertising...again without approval or backing from MOL. His boast at the time was that he didn't own or need a computer!
But ask the financial journos, or indeed the public, and they'll tell you O'Leary is the genius who thought it all up himself.
Poppycock.
Just like his protege Willy Walsh of ALT, his main skill is in self publicising and showboating.