Posted on December 05, 2008 by Fiona Hilliard

This just in…Ryanair yesterday offered the Irish government €200m in a bid to seal its takeover deal on Aer Lingus. 

In an offer the government couldn’t refuse, Michael O’ Leary sidled up to Finance Minister, Brian Lenihan promising to set up a €200m fund that the Irish government could draw on if Ryanair fails to reduce Aer Lingus fares by 5% or eliminate all fuel surcharges at the carrier.  The move came in the same week that saw the Minister for Finance saying he’d consider the takeover bid “carefully”.

Could this be the start of a beautiful friendship between the budget carrier and the Irish government?  Well if the words of Ryanair’s deputy chief executive Howard Millar are anything to go by, it looks as if the current cabinet is warming to the idea.  Yesterday,  Millar said: “The Irish government is in listening mode.  It is under considerable financial pressure and it is looking at ways to raise cash.”

In a further sweetener, O’ Leary said yesterday that Ryanair would restore daily Aer Lingus services between Heathrow and Shannon airport and give the Irish government a veto over selling Aer Lingus’s Heathrow slots.  Watch this space…