O'Leary sent a clear message that, however unpalatable they find the idea, the government and trade unions will have to get used to his presence as a major Aer Lingus shareholder regardless of the final outcome of his takeover bid.

Asked what would happen if, for example, Ryanair's stake stalled at 25-30%, O'Leary told the Sunday Tribune he would not be exiting the stock and that Ryanair would be "there for the very long term and, in my view, forever" as a shareholder in Aer Lingus.

O'Leary said even if it failed to get to 50.1%, Ryanair . . . in its capacity as the biggest or second-biggest shareholder . . .

would be "supportive of, and demanding, cost reductions and fare reductions and more growth". Ryanair would not be interested in board representation in such a scenario but would clearly make its presence felt at general meetings.

When it was put to O'Leary that the presence of Ryanair as a minority shareholder, along with the government and employee stakes, might cause paralysis at the airline, he countered: "If we get to 50.1%, there won't be paralysis.

There'll be nose bleeds at the speed we move things."

The decision of employees who will own around 15% of the airline . . . between individual shareholding and the Employee Share Ownership Trust (ESOT) . . . is likely to be critical in the coming weeks. Denis O'Brien tells today's Business section of the Sunday Tribune that the ESOT should buy more Aer Lingus shares to block the takeover attempt.

But some observers have speculated employees may find the Ryanair offer extremely attractive. "We imagine workers and the ESOT will find it very difficult [to turn down] an offer of over 60,000 per head, seven days after the company is floated, " O'Leary said.

The Ryanair boss politely rejected Denis O'Brien's claim that a Ryanair takeover of Aer Lingus would be "a disaster" for Ireland. He said O'Brien had "obviously not read the Ryanair offer" document.

O'Leary also described as "astonishing" comments on Friday by transport minister Martin Cullen that government policy was to deliver competition and choice for consumers in airlines and airports.

"So said the owner of the DAA (Dublin Airport Authority) monopoly, " O'Leary said caustically.