The sad thing is that they think they are fooling people by this? Do they really think people in Shannon - who held onto this with an iron grip for so many years - will be so easily fooled by this transparency?
With Aer Lingus in serious trouble (how much must it cost them to fly empty 330s from SNN to BOS and JFK?) and European airlines badly needing a more liberal policy for US access, it seems pathetic that one government can not only ****** its own country's interests, but obstruct the rest of the EU as well.
One further thought: is it possible that if EI feels its competitive potential is being undermined by this nonsense, it could take an action against the gov't in the ECJ and even obtain damages for the financial losses it has incurred - might be a way to finance the redundancies?