Madam, - The latest takeover offer for Aer Lingus by Michael O'Leary should be viewed with suspicion. Ryanair was possibly one of the best things to happen in Ireland as far as the travelling public are concerned; it broke the monopoly of Aer Lingus on this island and forced it to look at its own fare structure.
It gave real choice to the ordinary man and woman and now that choice would be eroded with the acquisition of Aer Lingus. Over 80 per cent of all flights off the island will be controlled by one corporation and despite any lip service Mr O'Leary may give now, the lure of the vast amount of money that can be made with the reintroduction of the monopoly would be too much for the barracuda of business.
Air travellers would suffer, maybe not immediately but as sure as night follows day. Even the offer of €740 million for Aer Lingus is an affront. Why would anybody in their right minds sell their shares in a company that has over €800 million in the bank, assets valued in billions and London Heathrow slots more valuable than gold for such a paltry sum?
Imagine buying a company in that scenario, making immediate cash profit on the deal and getting an established transatlantic product thrown in for good measure.
If the Government sold their shares so cheaply, it would be a slap in the face for the taxpayer of this country.
Despite the fact that the coffers look bare at the moment, such a deal does not represent "bang for your buck". It would be like robbing the poor to feed the rich.
Finally, the promise to retain Aer Lingus as a company and brand seems hollow in light of the fact that this exact same situation happened with the now extinct airline Buzz.
Mr O'Leary proposes to buy Aer Lingus not in the name of Ryanair but a specifically set-up company called Coinside, similar to what happened with Buzz.
As happened there, all Coinside has to do is to declare bankruptcy and Aer Lingus can be sold off piecemeal and not even statutory redundancy has to be paid to the employees.
This happened in the UK, it will happen here. Then the taxpayer will see how much could really have been made from the sale of Aer Lingus.
Will Aer Lingus be sold within the next few years? Definitely. Should it be sold to ultimately reintroduce a monopoly in air travel on and off the island? Definitely not. - Yours, etc,
Madam, - Aer Lingus holds reserves of about €840 million in cash.
Michael O'Leary pays €740 million for the entire company.
I've heard of buy one get one free but this is ridiculous. - Yours, etc,