I agree 5 crew per aircraft is whats needed, especially as the business passengers are going to need ''high maintenance'', also comparisons of a DUB-TFS sector against T/A routes are totally unrealistic, aren't passengers entitled to free bar services and meals on T/A? if so its a whole different ball game in terms of demanded service by the crew against short haul services. Management are simply trying to get the lowest possible crew number and to be the most competitive at Shannon with a much better aircraft against UA and DL, they still can with 5 crew. However as has been said, the public will be on EI's side, so the unions are going to have to be more creative than the usual, stop working and expect answers routine.
A kind of separate question, will 3 cockpit crew be required as per standard operations on the A330 fleet for T/A services?