Latest 29.08.2009
UNION BUSTER CALLS FOR YES VOTE

Is Michael O Leary putting €500,000 into an advertising campaign that will call for a YES vote, because he has a little favour to ask of the EU Commission, He wants the right to take full control of the former national airline, Aer Lingus? Read More

RYANAIR boss Michael O'Leary has called for a "Yes" vote on the Lisbon Treaty and backed it up with a string of curses. Voting 'Yes' in October was, "the f***ing sensible thing to do,"according to O'Leary.

He went on to label opponents of the treaty, principally Sinn Fein, Socialist Workers Party and the Socialist Party, as "idiot headbangers" and "unemployable headbangers" and "economic illiterates".

O Leary claims that the treaty is "a f***ing pain in the arse of a document. I nearly died of boredom from reading it, but yes I have read the treaty," he said.

By dropping the word "f***ing" several times and telling everyone how "p***ed off" he is, O Leary seemingly intends to sound like the "common man". In a rare touch of ironic wit, O Leary even claimed that " we are clearly not part of the golden circle"

But the former Clongowes Woods boy and Trinity College graduate was born with a very large silver spoon stuck in his mouth.

Like much of the Irish rich, he started life as an accountant, specialising in tax affairs. He was originally hired by the airline boss, Tony Ryan to "manage" his tax affairs. Once inside the corporate elite, O Leary showed a singular talent for ruthless intimidation of workers and was fully rewarded by his boss.

After making a fortune from exploiting Ryanair"s workforce, O Leary thought a little grandeur was in order and has invested in racehorses and prize cattle.

So our money aristocrat with the loud and coarse mouth has not the slightest interest in the real concerns of common people.

He is backing the Lisbon Treaty for two key reasons:

• He knows that the EU Commission has helped bring about greater privatisation and the Lisbon Treaty gives them greater powers. EU rules on state aid were the main reason advanced by the government for refusing to invest in Aer Lingus when it was under public ownership. These rules helped O Leary gain a large minority stake in the airline when it was privatised.
• O Leary knows that that Lisbon Treaty does nothing to protect the rights of trade unionists. If there was the slightest suggestion to the contrary, the union buster would not support it.

O Leary is putting €500,000 into an advertising campaign that will call for a YES vote. Like the boss of Intel, he has a little favour to ask of the EU Commission: He wants the right to take full control of the former national airline, Aer Lingus.

This sick display of money power shows why every self respecting trade unionist should vote NO.