To me it looks as if the Irish Government has made this decision on purely political grounds, probably connected with the Irish trade unions. The EI share price is well below the FR offer price. The share price will probably now collapse and those poor staff in the company bought into the company at privatisation will have lost all their investments. EI is going nowhere, has an appaling balance sheet when the pension liabilities are included and every development plan they have followed has failed. It looks as if they are heading for that giant airline scrapheap in the sky.
Meanwhile that other Irish airline (FR) which is actually one of the largest and most successful Irish businesses of any sort ever, has the highest market capitilisation of any European airline, has the strongest cash balance of any European airline, is the largest international airline in the world, has the best punctuality record of any large airline in Europe. Need I go on?
Put the two together and make Irish aviation even stronger. Fail to put them together and EI will fade away.
Why on earth the Irish government prefers the failed EI to one of Ireland's greatest successes ever is beyond me.