Dan98, I did not say there weren't any - simply that I had not flown with any and I wasn't aware of any. On the other hand, I have flown with several from EZ and other airlines. There is, as far as I know, no published list of Virgin pilots' previous companies! There are around 400 pilots on the A340 at VS.
If Ryanair have improved their Terms and Conditions over the past year, that's great - but it will not, I suspect, have much to do with pressure from the line pilots as the company does not allow union representation and has allegedly applied considerable pressure to dissuade pilots from joining any union. A bit of research on REPA (the nascent Ryanair European Pilots' Association) will provide some interesting background information on the subject. The changes to Ts & Cs will have been almost entirely driven by market forces - other airlines' better offers are simply more attractive to potential Ryanair pilots, and the company's reputation among pilots seems to have been steadily deteriorating over the past couple of years. The recent court case, and particularly the judges statement about the company's use of intimidation as a management tool, are worth further study. This month's BALPA Log magazine covers it quite well, and it received a lot of coverage on Pprune.
I should add that I have no personal axe to grind about Ryanair. However, I think you should go in with your eyes open, and fully informed by those who are currently employed there. To that end, there are several Ryanair threads in T&E which it would be worth your while reading.
Scroggs