Ryanair Responds to Irish Government Statement ...

RYANAIR RESPONDS TO IRISH GOVERNMENT STATEMENT ON AER LINGUS TAKEOVER
                                OFFER

Ryanair said this evening (22 Jan) that it was disappointed by the
Irish Government's decision not to accept its all cash offer of ¤1.40
per share, which values Aer Lingus at ¤748m.  However Ryanair will
respect and abide by the Government's decision, which  means that
Ryanair's offer will not be successful, since our 90% acceptance
condition cannot be satisfied.

Ryanair believes the Government's decision is a wrong one, as this
cash offer greatly exceeds the intrinsic value of Aer Lingus
(something which Ryanair believes will be reflected in a sharp fall
in Aer Lingus' share price over the coming days).  The Government's
decision also means that Ryanair's plan to double the size of Aer
Lingus' short-haul fleet and create 1,000 new Aer Lingus jobs cannot
now proceed.

Ryanair's Michael O'Leary said:

"We will respect and abide by the Government's decision.  We don't
think it is in the best interests of Aer Lingus, which will be
isolated as a small, peripheral, loss making airline, reduced to
announcing so called "partnerships" with other loss makers like
United Airlines.

"It is strange, when the Irish Government is looking for ¤2bn in cost
savings, that it would reject an offer of ¤188m for its 25% stake in
Aer Lingus.  It is also sad,  when thousands of jobs are being lost
in Ireland, that Ryanair's offer to create 1,000 new Irish jobs in
Aer Lingus over the next 5 years has been rejected.

"We would like to thank the Government and other Aer Lingus
shareholders for the time and consideration they have given to our
offer over the past 7 weeks.  Ryanair will now focus all of our
energies on continuing to successfully grow and develop Ireland's
biggest airline and we will ensure that Ireland will still be home to
one of Europe's big four airline groups (Ryanair, Air France, BA and
Lufthansa)."

Ends.
Thursday, 22nd January 2009


Enquiries:


Ryanair                                  Telephone: [phone]
Howard Millar

Davy Corporate Finance                    Telephone: [phone]
(Financial Adviser to Ryanair and
Coinside)
Eugenée Mulhern
Brian Garrahy

Morgan Stanley                            Telephone: [phone]
(Financial  Adviser   to  Ryanair   and
Coinside)
Colm Donlon
Adrian Doyle

Murray Consultants                       Telephone: [phone]
(Public Relations Advisers to Ryanair)
Pauline McAlester                        Telephone:  [phone]


The directors of Ryanair and  Coinside accept responsibility for  the
information contained  in  this  announcement,  save  that  the  only
responsibility accepted by the directors of Ryanair and Coinside   in
respect of  the  information in  this  announcement relating  to  Aer
Lingus and the Aer Lingus Group, which has been compiled from  public
sources, has been to ensure that such information has been  correctly
and fairly reproduced or presented (and  no steps have been taken  by
the directors of Ryanair and Coinside to verify this information). To
the best of the knowledge and belief of the directors of Ryanair  and
Coinside (who have taken all reasonable  care to ensure that such  is
the case), the information contained in this document for which  they
accept responsibility is in  accordance with the  facts and does  not
omit anything likely to affect the import of such information.

Davy Corporate Finance, which is regulated in Ireland by the
Financial Regulator, is acting exclusively for Ryanair and Coinside
and no one else in connection with the Offer, and will not be
responsible to anyone other than Ryanair and Coinside for providing
the protections afforded to clients of Davy Corporate Finance nor for
providing advice in relation to the Offer, the contents of this
announcement, the Offer Document or any transaction or arrangement
referred to in this announcement.

Morgan Stanley & Co.  Limited is acting  exclusively for Ryanair  and
Coinside and no one else in connection with the Offer and will not be
responsible to anyone other than  Ryanair and Coinside for  providing
the protections afforded to clients  of Morgan Stanley & Co.  Limited
nor for providing advice  in relation to the  Offer, the contents  of
this  announcement,  the  Offer   Document  or  any  transaction   or
arrangement referred to in this announcement. This announcement  does
not constitute an  offer or  an invitation  to offer  to purchase  or
subscribe for any securities.  Any response in relation to the  Offer
should only be made on the basis of the information contained in  the
Offer Document or any document by which the Offer is made.

Terms defined in  the Offer Document  have the same  meaning in  this
announcement unless otherwise stated.

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