In Praise of Michael O’Leary, the Dear Leader of Ryanair

Michael O’Leary, chief executive of airline from hell Ryanair, would have made a great columnist. My wife has just passed on a clipping from the London Times that she’d cut out a few weeks ago, knowing my oft-repeated admiration for the man.

Helen Power reported from the EU’s Innovation Convention at which O’Leary and other luminaries had spoken. She noted that whereas most of the speakers had provided po-faced  photos and boring CVs for the Convention programme, our Michael provided a picture of himself hugging a model of a Ryanair plane, and a CV that reads:

Born in a stable in 1961, he was a boy genius, who excelled both academically and at sports. Having represented Ireland at bogsnorkelling and flower arranging, he graduated from Trinity College in Dublin as soon as they could get rid of him.

He then became another boring KPMG accountant until divine inspiration sentenced him to a life of penal servitude in the airline business. It is widely known that women find him irresistible.

OK, maybe not enough evidence for a career in journalism, but certainly the credentials to apply for the role of CV writer to the Respected Leader of North Korea, Kim Jong Un, successor to the great golfer Kim Jong Il.

Michael, I forgive you for your wretched airline because you made me laugh out loud after a rotten day in the dentist’s chair. Until the next time I fly Ryanair.