Welshrambler,
I am ex Ryanair and was once faced with the exact same scenario as you pose, i.e upon completion of my line training I was "ordered" to go on a Brookfield Contract and told that it was Brookfield or nothing else. I called their bluff and thanked them for their training and announced I was off to another airline.
Within days I recieved a phone call from the flight ops manager offering me a Ryanair contract with a choice of bases, one of them being the actual base I wanted!
If you hold out for a Ryanair contract (And can afford to because you won't be flying much) then my experience shows that if you stand your ground with Ryanair, you can win a battle with them.
Good luck whatever you decide.