It is looking like the legal tape that Cullen put into AL's Article's of Association, ONLY required the Government's ok if they were to try to sell or lease the slots. It does not prevent them from simply moving those slots to another base within the Aer Lingus company.
If this is the case, All of Cork's slots are wide open as well, and Dublin could lose 3 out of it's 13 slots.
It explains Dempsey being so sheepish on the news earlier....