WE NEED HIM BACK: Mike O’Leary announced to sell the team Due to Poor…

WE NEED HIM BACK: Mike O’Leary announced to sell the team Due to Poor…

On a recent Ryanair journey from Dublin to London, I was caught at the gate with an overweight bag. The flight attendant informed me that I needed to check it in (for free), which would extend an already delayed journey.

So, while walking across the tarmac to board the plane, I pulled off the tag. I remember feeling a sense of accomplishment after my act of defiance, finally pulling one over on Ryanair and Michael O’Leary.

In the past, I have not hidden my distaste for Ryanair and everything it represents. As someone with a history in hospitality, I used to tell people that I was appalled by how Ryanair handles its passengers and their no-frills service. I claimed to be willing to pay a few additional pounds to fly Aer Lingus, but I rarely did.

But as I slid into those terrible blue seats with minimal legroom, I had an insight.

After ten years in the UK and perhaps 50 journeys back to Dublin, Ryanair has saved me a fortune. How much is difficult to calculate? Let’s suppose Aer Lingus charges about £20 more than Ryanair, which is probably a reasonable estimate, so my estimation is around £1,000.

But this isn’t the complete tale. To survive, Aer Lingus has to adapt to Ryanair’s low-cost business strategy. According to the Ryanair website, when Michael O’Leary took over the airline in the early 1990s and adopted Southwest Airlines’ strategy, the average cost of a return journey from London to Dublin dropped from £99 to £59.

Based on pre-O’Leary costs, those 50 flights would have cost slightly under £5,000 (without accounting for inflation). I’d guess £59 is the typical cost of a return flight from London to Dublin, factoring for Christmas and last-minute bookings, so Ryanair and O’Leary have likely saved me close to £2,000.

As distasteful as it may sound, I believe I can afford to pay O’Leary a pint to thank him for all of the money he has saved me over the years. I’ll forgive him for the no-frills service–after all, the flight is only 45 minutes long–and the obnoxious jingle that plays when his planes arrive on schedule.

Saipan incident

In the summer of 2002, the Irish public’s attention was mostly focused on one person: Roy Keane, captain of the Irish football team. Keane walked out on the Irish squad on the eve of the 2002 World Cup, known as ‘the Saipan affair’ in Irish sporting mythology.

It was the first tournament we’d qualified for since USA ’94, so hopes were high. Exciting young players like Robbie Keane and Damien Duff were just breaking through, and Keane was still regarded as one of the best midfielders in the world. Unfortunately, a dispute over the inadequate quality of facilities and equipment, as well as a simmering conflict between Keane and manager Mick McCarthy, prevented the best player of a generation from performing on one of sport’s most important platforms. Instead, he strolled his golden Labrador, Triggs, much to the pleasure of the sports reporters gathered outside his front gate.