The move would kill any attempts to force the airline to reverse its decision, and it is understood that the employee share ownership trust is divided over the issue.

Under company rules, 75% of shareholders must vote against the board to force it to drop its plans, which would be impossible to achieve without the state's 25.1% stake.

A spokeswoman for the department of transport refused to rule out the possibility of abstaining, stating that "if an EGM is held, the government, like all other shareholders, will reflect carefully on any motions circulated in advance of the meeting".

She also indicated that the government's primary motivation behind retaining its stake in the airline was to block takeovers, not to influence the company's business direction.

"The primary objective of the 25% shareholding is to give the government the basis upon which it can oppose takeover bids that are not perceived to be in Ireland's economic interest, " she said.

However, in May 2006, just prior to the privatisation of the airline, the then minister for transport Martin Cullen told the Dail that the government had retained a stake because "shareholding of 25.1% in a public company is a major voting block and would ensure that the state has significant influence".

Although the government has argued that it would be improper for it to use its stake in the airline to intervene in the crisis, the Sunday Tribune has learned that it can do so under Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) guidelines, which allow governments to use shareholdings to advance public service objectives, including regional development.

A spokesman for the department of finance said that the guidelines were irrelevant because they "relate to state-owned enterprises, ie not those in which the state is a minority shareholder".

However, the guidelines refer to "enterprises where the state has significant control, through full, majority or significant minority ownership".

The department admitted that it has never drawn up guidelines regarding how the government should exercise its rights as a shareholder.

"The state is almost always the only shareholder or the majority shareholder in companies in which it holds shares, " said a spokesman.

He said, however, that government departments were required to produce statements of strategy which "cover the sectors, including the role and activities of relevant state companies, for which they have responsibility".

This approach differs from that adopted by other European governments, including Britain, which has a dedicated shareholder executive, which attempts to balance the state's public service obligation with the commercial interests of companies in which the government owns a stake.