Well during the time I tried, ALL, and I mean ALL, that I knew who applied with Ryanair got an interview, let me add they were all younger guys, came from same flight school.
Me and few others from the same flight school, above 35 did not get a sniff at an interview as far as I can recall.
What are the chances that happen?
Personally I did feel upset when it happen, and BALPA was red hot on the case, but the irony was, that because I was not an employed pilot they could not look into unless I paid for the whole process myself.
However in hindsight, and also something I thought of that time, no use to make a fuss, it will not help me, and I did not want be perceived as a trouble maker. Thinking that somewhere down line, who knows what paths might cross, I would not want to have burnt my bridges just because of this.
It is quite clear, still it is also quite foggy!
It is one of the obstacles that me and others have to take into consideration, when we start to late.
The thing that you get flogged around europe, should NOT be a real issue for anybody starting this, you should not expect that you have would be stationed in the UK anyhow for the first X number of years.
However the way I saw it, having been able to wait 2 - 3 years to get a UK base, would not have been an issue, it was something I would have expected anyway.