It was fun while it lasted as we contemplated O'Leary allying himself with his oldest foes . . . the government, the Aer Lingus unions . . . to force the privatised national airline to row back on a commercial decision made at the altar where Ryanair worships its holiest god . . . increased profit margins.

Fun, of course, if you weren't a business in the Shannon region reliant on direct flights to Heathrow. But even then, O'Leary's machinations have been a wonder to behold as he eagerly offered to help the government out of a jam while simultaneously turning the screw on it.

Why, we all wondered, was he doing this? Is his aim to cause Aer Lingus commercial harm and perhaps even unseat Dermot Mannion? If so he risks harming Ryanair's returns from its now 28% stake in Aer Lingus.

Is it all pure devilment? More than likely a fair proportion of his actions have been. For Michael O' Leary, if you can't have a little fun while knocking a few sacred cows, you might as well give up.

Still, enough is enough . . . and with a major strike now looming on Tuesday and Wednesday with 50,000 passengers affected, unless he has something serious to contribute to the situation, it's time he clicked his heels and hopped and skipped off the Aer Lingus relocation radar.