Let's stick to the facts, shall we?
Couple of questions:
1) How is CAP371 relevant to a non-UK airline (ie Aer Lingus)?
2) As most people sleep for just under eight hours on average, how is this an issue of fatigue, and, by extension, safety? Fatigue is a defined medical condition and is not the same as tiredness.
Of course it is a pain in the rear to have to work having had minimum time off, but I can't see it being a safety issue unless it is a constant routine of min rest-max duty-min rest (which will soon be stopped in any case as max duty hour limits will come into play).
This is why split duties are perfectly acceptable under CAP371, as is reduced rest.
Nobody seems too keen to post the Irish regs, I wonder why?
Don't get me wrong- I would fight any move to go to less than CAP371 limits (if that were legal) in my airline. However, people need to be a little more accurate when arguing the issue. What this is really about is an erosion in the T's & C's of Aer Lingus crews.
I know a little about both tiredness and fatigue in aviation, having suffered from both- however it was not caused by what faces Aer Lingus pilots...