beaver eager I think it does work. You have to start with a cynical perspective on Ryanair to get the logic of what is going on. If you are not an experienced Ryanair watcher you might have something called an "open mind". In that case you have to go and do your research as to why those with experience of Ryanair are suspicious of every public utterance they make.
What is going on was stated somewhere earlier on this thread. The airline is solving several problems by these cancellations. By making them early - in December, as marked by their Press Release - they pin the blame on Boeing. The cancellations help solve a crew hours / lack of crew problem - by helping extend the productivity available from the remaining pilot hours (up to the max of 900) last as long as possible. This is important as "hire ins" are going to be even more important this year than ever before in the period Jan-Mar.
What flights are chosen? - well the ones with the lighest loads that are suitable for combination with other flights. While all of this is an inconvenience to pax, it makes very good economic sense - in other words, cancelling flights which only have pax with actual low fares, saving pilot hours for flights which have much better economic yields and, finally, cutting down on the cost of "hire ins".
If you can blame the BAA, Boeing, God, pilots, governments or whatever, so much the better - there is always an audience to help the
PR maching keep the picture obscure and ignorant of the facts.
Once you get onto their wavelength they become a lot easier to "read". This is ALL about money (profit) and nothing to do with obligations to passengers, staff or whomever.