EI have been unable to make a decision on long haul for ages.
Back in 2003
The Times in the UK reported they were bunnies caught in the headlights of the then impending Open Skies Agreement.
During the boom years in Ireland, several long haul destinations, both business and tourist, seemed viable even on a couple of fights a week basis, such as Cape Town, Las Vegas, Toronto, perhaps even the Caribbean and certainly something in Asia with a potential hop to Aus/NZ. Yet they stuck with just the US and a foray to Dubai. Perhaps not wanting to reduce load factor on the LHR traffic feeding other airlines on those routes was a consideration.
Eitherway, if EI is to spread its wings on long haul in the current environment then they need to decide on the crewing practices that will be the platform on which the routes are based and sell that to the unions. Get that right and with an acceptable product to sell at the right price and even in tough times there may very well be viable new routes.
JAS