"The problem is EI hiring non-Irish citizens "
That goes both ways, in the end it balances itself out. Don't see why they should be limited just to employing the Irish, as without the rest of EU Eire would be down the drain now unfortunately.
Personally they seem to be a good company compared to many others, however with RyR lurking in the background, I hope the line does not get crossed.
The question is not if the cadet program is good or bad, it is more the constant oversupply of pilots, making T & C's suffer.