Ryanair: PR v the Law

Here we go! #GrillMOL pic.twitter.com/yz1UdxnNro

— Ryanair (@Ryanair) October 21, 2013

The uncompromising CEO of Ryanair, Michael O'Leary, undertook his first Twitter chat yesterday, resplendent as he was in a large green leprechaun hat and lavish ginger beard—typical business attire in the Irish capital, so it would seem.

The press was in two minds as to how it went.

According to the Guardian, he managed to compare himself to Jesus and proved himself to be an unreconstructed leprechaun by stating, 'Nice pic. Phwoaaarr! MOL' in one of his early replies to a female questioner. Oh dear.

It is clear, however, that Mr O'Leary is an unqualified supporter of free publicity—good or bad. In fairness, who wouldn’t be in favour of good PR? As far as bad PR goes, I’ll leave that one with you to decide.

However, as Michael O'Leary is aware, the law does sometimes chuck on its dusty wig and elbow itself into the world of PR. Sadly, the magic powers of a leprechaun hat do not extend to allowing the wearer to say or do whatever they like from a legal point of view. So today, having a bit of fun, I thought that I would analyse some of the more bonkers Michael O'Leary quotes to see what the law thinks.

The answers are given in terms of English law although, as it happens, Ryanair is an Irish airline so it is subject to Irish law. That said, I'm not going to let this major fact spoil the fun.

Seatbelts don’t matter because if you crash in a plane you’re all dead anyway

An amusing quote, I grant you, but alas it is not quite true as anybody who watched The Plane Crash on Channel 4 earlier this year will confirm. (This is well worth watching, by the way—not, however, on a tablet computer at 28,000 feet).

The documentary