"It seems to me so far fetched, this proposition, that we don't bother wasting our time on it," Aer Lingus chief executive Christoph Mueller told journalists.
"We question very much that Flybe will be an independent competitor to Ryanair and we are working from the assumption that we will be around next year when we talk" at Aer Lingus's 2013 results announcement, he said.
Just imagine the picture in the FlyBE Boardroom on the day O'Leary marches in to lay down the law. There'll be a lot of effing and blinding, and the FlyBE Board will soon know exactly who is in control.
"I gave you 100M of my money - you do as I effing tell you, or else". etc etc.
When you deal with the devil you better be ready for the consequences.