I haven't been following the privatization of EI closely (and don't have time to research it now, so the following may be wrong), but wasn't there an aborted privatization in 2004, which was leaked to the press as the way to abort it ... the EI CEO and executives were doing a deal that would net them a few hundred million, and they were sacked afterwards.
Given that EI has been profitable for several years now under difficult circumstances, and has some good assets, the Ryanair bid is bound to attract attention (though I doubt BA will counter-offer). Interesting to see how this all plays out. In any case, the impact on Oneworld is negligible.