I'm afraid Bearcat is right on this, EC-ILS; of all the errors DM made while CEO of EI, this was the biggest. He seemed to have learned nothing from his long experience at EK ... the value of a consistent product, good marketing and scheduling. Had EI marketed this and entered into an interline agreement with EK, then the DXB route could have been a success; there was more than sufficient numbers of pax (and even still, despite the recession) flying between Asia and Ireland to justify a direct service, feeding into a major hub like DXB.
The failure of DXB raises the question with me: was the main objective to keep EK out, as it was rumoured around that time that they were looking closely at DUB as a possible route.