Isn't it possible to close a base and keep flying there from other bases?
And I would be surprised if there were any longterm contracts with airports. One of the stronger points of Ryanair has always been their ability to give up bases and under that pressure negotiate better terms.
If MOL can keep Balpa out by temporarily closing UK bases and forcing out all brookfield pilots he can keep ryanair's financial position strong without being slowed down by unions like BA currently is.
I think he'll take up the challenge. Worst that can happen is a penalty fee by some government or law institute which he can pay easily. That's aside from the fact that he probably has seen this coming and covered all his contracts pretty well.
Believing that this won't happen is probably as naive as believing that you won't need a union in the future. Since only the UK bases are voting, I wouldn't be surprised that they're going to prefer their short term future in favor of their long future, which they probably won't have if balpa gets in.
It's a bad situation.