Aer Lingus management will meet trade unions this morning to discuss the IAG takeover bid.

The meeting comes after SIPTU President Jack O'Connor said he did not know if there was any possibility his union would back a sale under any circumstances.

The Government has said it cannot accept the offer in its current form - because it wants longer guarantees over the Heathrow landing slots. However it left the door open for a revised offer with better guarantees.

Yesterday Finance Minister Michael Noonan says a deal for Aer Lingus is not off the table - but he added that the Government is not the only party involved in the deal.

He told Bloomberg that the future of Aer Lingus will be decided on "commercial grounds" and not political ones.

The Irish Times Industry Correspondent Martin Wall spoke to Newstalk Breakfast this morning about the ongoing discussions over the bid.

He said that while unions at the airline are 'instinctively' minded to oppose the takeover, they will have to wait before taking a formal stance: