And trade unions hate him. Good enough for me to like him!
Ryanair proposed takeover of Aer Lingus
- Thread starter Humpback
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M
Meccano
Guest
Errr...this is 2006, there are dozens of LoCo carriers in the market. Ryanair wasn't even the first - not even in Ireland. He didn't invent the concept - he had to be shown it and then arm-twisted into improving it.
And why whine about 20 year old history? You're like a broken record! Sure wasn't it market forces back then which dictated prices - same as now. I thought you were a capitalist?
What that has to do with the loathsomeness of O'Leary I fail to see. Are you making a direct link between a CEO's loathsomeness and his succesfullness?
Neighbours? Friends? Well I'm not a millionaire farmer or member of the landed gentry or the 'horsey set'. Maybe you are?
I know plenty of people who admire O'Leary as a ruthless business man - but I know nobody who likes him, and his admirers all say they wouldn't want to work for him.
Ergo you must've liked Polands Communist military dictatorship - because the unions hated it (and brought it down, followed closely by the rest of the Communist edifice). You've got funny tastes in heroes. And strange logic too.
Ducksy is indeed a liability. Demonstrably.
If Richard Branson had bid for Aer Lingus - no resistance.
If BA had bid for Aer Lingus - little or no resistance.
If Emirates had bid for Aer Lingus - welcomed with open arms.
O'Leary makes the bid - Universal resistance.
Result - he'll have to keep upping the offer - costing his company more money - and fight tooth and nail to gain every inch of ground, and even if he gets control the fallout over the next two years will destroy Aer Lingus, damage Ryanair, create a monopoly at Dublin Airport and lead to massive political damage to this and future governments.
Loathsome - and a liability.
Are you seriously trying to compare Lech Walesa with Jack O'Connor and his SIPTU coherts who spend their members subs on a fleet of mercedes cars for their representatives. Long live socialism
M
Meccano
Guest
By that standard then the IAA are a monopoly too then.
For your info - I oppose monopolies.
Ooooh dear, breaking Godwins Law means game over for you Purple.
Byeee.
Eh, no. I'm simply pointing out the stupidity of forming your opinions on the basis of what other people like or dislike.
Try thinking for yourself.
And try not to get your knickers in a twist. Not every post on this thread has to be a serious written piece with important points in CAPITALS and in bold. Maybe I should make better use of the different faces in future to make sure people understand what it is said tongue in cheek and what is serious.
And you are bordering on peronal attacks there as well so be careful
M
Meccano
Guest
Is that bordering on a personal attack?
Careful sonny!
For you I would have thought such a comparison would have been a badge of honour?
M
Meccano
Guest
Nah, I'm not in the habit of lying down in the public road to protest gerbil emasculation etc.
I don't want to add petrol to a fire, but the naked hatred of Michael O'Leary displayed in some of these postings is really quite nasty. The suggestion that Mr. O'Leary is oging to end up with Aer Lingus egg on his face is frankly laughable. Surely we can at least acknowledge that, as a businessman, Mr. O'Leary is in the first rank when it comes to making a profit.
I totally agree. We're dealing with the CEO of a company who'll do whatever necessary to squeeze money out of customers, or to squeeze waste out of it's processes and procedures.
Consequently, I don't see how anyone could feasibly expect that MOL hasn't fully assessed all of the risks involved in this takeover bid, and mitigated against those risks.
While the government, the Unions, and Aer Lingus management never saw the approach of Ryanair coming, I would fully expect that most of the
manoeuvrings recently in the AL saga would have been forseen as possible or expected by MOL and his advisors.
As a primary basis for saying this, you've got probably the most experienced US investment bank with regards to airlines backing MOL and Ryanair, Morgan Stanley. A bank who turned down flat any invitations to get involved in the AL float.
R
rabbit
Guest
Mick O'Leary aint loathsome in everyones eyes, far from it. I'm not a millionaire farmer or member of the landed gentry or the 'horsey set' either, and even if I was, what has that to do with it ? There are three pubs in his local village ... he left 500 euro in each of them to buy everyone drink when his horse won last Paddys day I think it was. You did not have to be a millionaire farmer or member of the landed gentry or the 'horsey set' to qualify, far from it. Another friend I know had his ticket checked by Mick O'Leary on a plane one..... this act by the head of an airline who is humble enough to " muck in " and help out before catching the same plane to England himself says it all, when you compare it to the performance by the parasites in Air Fungus and the unions in years gone by.
M
Meccano
Guest
years gone by...click.....
years gone by...click.....
years gone by...click.....
years gone by...click.....
years gone by...click.....
years gone by...click.....
years gone by...click.....
M
Meccano
Guest
Micko's a big boy - his colourful language shows he can handle a bit of rough and tumble, eh?
Furthermore, any man who gets lambasted as a liar and a bully by a High Court judge needs no defending by mere mortals such as you MOB.
Save your tears for a more deserving cause.
So was Gordon Gecko. Another of your heroes?
All Hail Profit!
Bow down before the Mighty Dollar!
A mans worth is naught but his posessions!
All Hail Profit!
God, what a race of microbes we've bred!
I am almost sorry I posted. I have no particular sympathy for Michael O'Leary, as I don't really know him and am not by any measure in any of his peer groups. I know he is well liked in his community, and his business achievements are of course a matter of public record - that's really about it.
My comment was prompted by previous contributions such as:
"Result - he'll have to keep upping the offer - costing his company more money - and fight tooth and nail to gain every inch of ground, and even if he gets control the fallout over the next two years will destroy Aer Lingus, damage Ryanair"
It is comments such as this which I find to be nonsensical. There is simply no way that someone of Michael O'Leary's calibre hasn't already measured his risks, including the possibility of a "white knight" such as Denis O'Brien.
I made no comment good bad or indifferent as to whether I approve of what one might call naked capitalism, as exemplified by Ryanair. I certainly have views on the issue, but they are not relevant to the point I was making.
I am not remotely concerned about defending Mr. O'Leary or any other highly successful businessman - nor do they need my defence. It does bother me that there seems to exist such naked hatred. Frankly, I think it is very bad indeed for people to hate in this way. I am not being glib about this: negative emotions such as hatred are akin to toxins accumulating in the environment, and I firmly believe that they do long term damage. It certainly won't bother Michael O'Leary that some people seem to hate him (though perhaps it should) but it does no good at all to the people doing the hating.
My comment was prompted by previous contributions such as:
"Result - he'll have to keep upping the offer - costing his company more money - and fight tooth and nail to gain every inch of ground, and even if he gets control the fallout over the next two years will destroy Aer Lingus, damage Ryanair"
It is comments such as this which I find to be nonsensical. There is simply no way that someone of Michael O'Leary's calibre hasn't already measured his risks, including the possibility of a "white knight" such as Denis O'Brien.
I made no comment good bad or indifferent as to whether I approve of what one might call naked capitalism, as exemplified by Ryanair. I certainly have views on the issue, but they are not relevant to the point I was making.
I am not remotely concerned about defending Mr. O'Leary or any other highly successful businessman - nor do they need my defence. It does bother me that there seems to exist such naked hatred. Frankly, I think it is very bad indeed for people to hate in this way. I am not being glib about this: negative emotions such as hatred are akin to toxins accumulating in the environment, and I firmly believe that they do long term damage. It certainly won't bother Michael O'Leary that some people seem to hate him (though perhaps it should) but it does no good at all to the people doing the hating.
R
rabbit
Guest
Well said. I agree 100 % I think perhaps part of it at least is begrudgery. If a relatively young person is very successful ( and Michael O'Leary was young by any standards when he took over the loss making Ryanair and turned it around, and his success as a businessman is on public record ) in Ireland unfortunately the tendency is for begrudgery from some quarters. Ironically sometimes the criticism is from people who have beneffited from low fares and / or people in the tourism industry, which has boomed as a result of low fares.
M
Meccano
Guest
Begrudgery? Hatred?
The Irish have developed it to an artform!
Speaking as an outsider - I observe that the Irish national psyche has a truly pathetic streak of deep seated self hatred, manifested in the love of money above any basic humanity, and delight in seeing a fellow human being squirm.
The Germans call it Schadenfreude - but the Irish have refined it to the nth degree.
Strangely, this behaviour is inexplicable by the masses, and is in fact unconsciously engaged in by them. They cannot define it, or articulate it - they simply know the feeling to be viscerally satisfying.
I consider it to be the very essence of a communal 'Post Colonial Hangover' - spectacularily demonstrated in this thread by sentiments which frame Mr.O'Leary as a form of rebel leader fighting to rescue Irish honour from the craven 'Continentals'(?), a man of the people who showers beneficent gifts on the plebs, and a sad preoccupation with a historic abuse that the heroic 'Il Duce' has saved his people from.
Given their masochistic mentality, the Irish will forever be (to paraphrase Micko) 'nothing but a small regional grouping'.
Getting rather off-topic I guess, but O'Leary and O'Gara's naked ambition and greed - bolstered by this uniquely Irish schadenfreude - are fascinating social phenomena, don't you think.
The Irish have developed it to an artform!
Speaking as an outsider - I observe that the Irish national psyche has a truly pathetic streak of deep seated self hatred, manifested in the love of money above any basic humanity, and delight in seeing a fellow human being squirm.
The Germans call it Schadenfreude - but the Irish have refined it to the nth degree.
Strangely, this behaviour is inexplicable by the masses, and is in fact unconsciously engaged in by them. They cannot define it, or articulate it - they simply know the feeling to be viscerally satisfying.
I consider it to be the very essence of a communal 'Post Colonial Hangover' - spectacularily demonstrated in this thread by sentiments which frame Mr.O'Leary as a form of rebel leader fighting to rescue Irish honour from the craven 'Continentals'(?), a man of the people who showers beneficent gifts on the plebs, and a sad preoccupation with a historic abuse that the heroic 'Il Duce' has saved his people from.
Given their masochistic mentality, the Irish will forever be (to paraphrase Micko) 'nothing but a small regional grouping'.
Getting rather off-topic I guess, but O'Leary and O'Gara's naked ambition and greed - bolstered by this uniquely Irish schadenfreude - are fascinating social phenomena, don't you think.
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