Take over of Aer Lingus
The serious Irish media reports that the responsible government minister (new government in Ireland since the last bid) would not allow the government stake in Aer Lingus to be sold to Ryanair - the whole issue has been reopened by the plan by the government to seel as many assets as possible to reduce state debt.
In addition, the EU has blocked previous bids on competition grounds so I can't see it changing its mind.
At the time of the earlier bids, Ryanair said it would keep the 2 companies operating separately but would expand the Aer Lingus brand (double I think I recall). As EI has moved away from the low cost model there is even more rationale for this now.