Maybe it means SFA, and for sure if FR decided they could ramp up capacity at DUB so fast it would make EI's eyes water and ruin their forward planning. That said, FR had many chances to kill off EI, yet have not managed/bothered to. EI have been quite lucky, in that ORK and DUB have been left largely untouched and FR retreated from Belfast. Im not sure what happened at LGW, it all seemed to be going roughly to plan, then it was killed (I have heard whisperings of a loose cannon with a big ego running riot over a short period and sealing the fate of LGW - don't know how true that is)
It is important for EI to be the biggest player at it's home airports, if for show and for the benefit of the analysts, if nothing else.