I Want To Break Free

In August 2013, the UK's Competition Commission (CC) found that Ryanair's presence on the Aer Lingus share register impeded Aer Lingus from participating in industry consolidation, and ordered a sell-down to 5%. Ryanair had acquired most of its 29.82% stake in 2006 as part of a failed bid for Aer Lingus, and resisted all efforts since then to force it to exit its rival's share register. Ryanair's appeal against the CC's report was dismissed by the Competition Appeal Tribunal (CAT) in March 2014.

The indication that Aer Lingus would soon be able to cut loose from Ryanair awoke the interest of International Airlines Group (IAG, the parent company of British Airways, Iberia and Vueling), which approached Aer Lingus with a merger proposal in December 2014. Ryanair responded with a fresh appeal in the CAT seeking to reopen the CC report in the light of IAG's approach, while its appeal against the CAT in the earlier litigation was still ongoing.