Ryanair calls for 'Yes' Vote

Ryanair has fired one of the first shots in the 'Yes' campaign in the forthcoming re-run of the referendum to take place in Ireland to ratify the Lisbon Treaty. The airline has pledged to spend €500,000 on it's campaign to persuade the Irish electorate to change it's mind and vote 'Yes' on October 2 next.
The airline which employees 6,500 employees from all 26 member states of the European Union believes that Ireland has benefited enormously from membership of the EU. Among the reasons it gives for it's strong stance are :


1. Without the EU policy on competition and deregulation neither Ryanair nor the low fares airline model would have survived in Europe.
2. Much of Ireland's success in landing FDI (Foreign Direct Investment) is due to Ireland's membership of the EU and the Euro.
3. During the banking and financial crises, Ireland's membership of the Euro and the European Union meant that the European Central Bank (ECB) came to the rescue of the Irish banking system and prevented an Iceland style melt down.


Launching the airline's campaign on Wednesday, chief executive Michael O'Leary said that : 


“Without Europe and the Euro, the Irish economy would be run by our incompetent politicians, our inept civil service and the greedy public sector trade union bosses, who through social partnership have in recent years destroyed Ireland’s competitiveness, created an epidemic of useless quangos and feathered the nests of the public sector at the expense of ordinary consumers in Ireland. I believe that Ireland must vote “Yes to Europe” on 2^nd October; otherwise our economic future will be destroyed by Government and Civil Service mismanagement and the narrow vested interests of the public sector trade unions.

Finally, I can think of no better reason to vote “Yes to Europe” than doing the opposite of that recommended by some of the headbangers who are calling for a no vote. When one looks at the ragbag amalgam of the “no” campaign, led by economic illiterates like Sinn Fein, the UK Independence Party (UKIP) and the Socialist Party it seems clear to me that Ireland should vote “Yes to Europe” on 2^ndOctober next, and I sincerely hope that we will.”

As part of the campaign, B737 EI-EFP has been painted in a special "Ryanair says Yes to Lisbon" scheme.