<font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2">Originally posted by PAUL PALMER:
I very much doubt that the Irish government would let them collapse - but we rather thought that about Swissair and Sabena.</font>
It is not about Ireland, it is about the EU. The EU wants airlines to merge, and is against gov support. While the Irish gov could figure out how to put some money into the airlines, the times have changed and EI may well not be the same airlines we know them as today. Just like the former Sabena (not sure what their name is now.)