October 2000: Mr Willie Walsh takes over the company as it was losing €25 million a day.

2002: He and colleagues - chief operating officer Mr Seamus Kearney and chief financial officer Mr Brian Dunne - begin to implement a rescue plan that will cut the workforce by 2,000 .

March 2004: The company announces that it had a 30 per cent increase in profits to €83 million in 2003.

July 2nd, 2004: Mr Walsh, Mr Kearney and Mr Dunne announce that the Department of Transport has given them permission to bring forward a proposal for the airline's future.

Many people see this as the first step to a management buyout.

July 5th, 2004: Irish Times reveals Aer Lingus plan to cut a further 1,300 jobs at the airline.

July 6th: The Cabinet orders the airline's management to freeze its plans for the airline while a sub-committee that includes the Taoiseach, Mr Ahern, considers the options for the national carrier's future.

The committee subsequently commissions Goldman Sachs to complete a report on the airline's future.

July 27th: Aer Lingus board approves the jobs cuts plan.

October 6th, 2004: Mr Ahern tells the Dail that he believes that a management buyout (MBO) is not the solution.

The same day, Mr Walsh and his colleagues tell an Oireachtas committee that they are no longer "seeking to develop an investment proposal" for the airline, and say an MBO was never their intention.

October 8th: Consultants Goldman Sachs tells the Government that flotation is the best way forward for Aer Lingus.

October 2004: It emerges that management will approach the Government seeking a cash injection of €200 million to €300 million for new air craft.

October 15th 2004: More than 1,600 workers apply for the redundancy scheme at the national carrier.

November 16th: Mr Walsh, Mr Kearney and Mr Dunne announce their resignation from the airline.