A very interesting week ahead ...
Interesting article in today's IT; basically, the EI employees/ESOT are looking to use their existing shares as security to buy enough further shares to stop FR.
More interesting and perhaps more sinister is that fact that US and UK aviation interests are looking at the situation with increasing concern, amid suggestions that they too may want to buy shares; they do not like the idea of a low cost carrier, particularly FR, moving onto t/a routes.
(The one point that comes to mind there is that, with the Irish govt seeking EU approval to finalise an Irish/US bilateral which bypasses all the delays on the wider EU/US open skies issue, might this be a front to allow obstructionists to make mischief? After all, if you want to stop Irish carriers competing, stop them from increasing access ...)
What is interesting out of all of this is that of all the parties wanting to buy (shares in) Aer Lingus, only FR has advanced a vision for the airline and its future; Aer Lingus employees (perhaps understandably, in fairness) want to stop MO'L/FR at all costs and US/UK carriers also want to, for their reasons - which have absolutely nothing to do with the best interests of Aer Lingus.
I suspect that if FR goes ahead and takes control of EI, the 12-14 acft EI has been talking about will be out the window; I suspect MO'L will be looking at a much larger number; he will use the fact that Irish carriers will soon be able to operate to the domestic terminals at US airports, benefiting from US pre-clearance at DUB/SNN. All of a sudden, only 50 years late - thanks to backward government thinking, Ireland is about to become a major player in transatlantic aviation. And faced with that, I can't help suspecting that Bertie is probably trying to cut a deal with BA, to buy shares in Aer Lingus, probably throwing in a few EI slots at LHR, just to stop MO'L - and to hell with the prospect of long haul development out of Ireland. All that matters is the next election, after all ...