I'd applied back in December and hadn't heard anything since the standard "thanks for your application - we'll be in touch" email, then yesterday I checked my email to find this :-
Many thanks for your application form for the position of First Officer with Aer Lingus. The closing date for receipt of applications was 12.00 on Friday 10th December 2010 and we would like to confirm receipt of your application.
We are in the process of screening all applications and should you meet our criteria we may be back in contact with you. Due to the high volume of applications, this may take some time so we would like to thank you in advance for your patience.
It's pretty much identical to the one they previously sent back in December, but still it seems like there is still a small glimmer of hope that my application has done something to trigger another email response, and it hasn't been filed in the recycle bin just yet.