The temptation is to be smug. When I last wrote about the Ryanair dispute, I ended with these words: "But if Dublin Airport was shut down by strikers from the other unions already operating there and business people and holidaymakers had their plans ruined we would start demanding action."
OK, so I got it right, but I'm not feeling smug. Quite the opposite. What happened last weekend was a disaster, not for SIPTU or Ryanair, but for the rest of us.
Ryanair arguably came out of the weekend with its image in better shape than it had any right to be. Its decision to remove the 39 workers' security passes should have lost it the PR battle. To effectively lock out your staff, particularly in Jim Larkin's Dublin, was a startling misjudgment. But it got away with it because of SIPTU's next move.
The union's first step seemed entirely logical: establish a picket. Let the travelling public see the baggage-handlers who have been "locked out". Raise the temperature a notch. After all, there was a by-election coming up.
However, that small increase in the heat being applied to the mix brought about a chain reaction. Airport closed. Chaos. Government intervention. Resolution. Interestingly, the resolution forces Ryanair to the negotiation table. SIPTU didn't win the PR battle, particularly on the radio, but it got what it wanted.
That's interesting, but what is important is the damage done. Irish travel companies are still trying to get a fix on the amount of money they lost over that weekend. Between chartering planes, flying their customers into Belfast, Shannon and Cork and bussing them to their ultimate destinations, hundreds of thousands of pounds were forfeited.
Airport security collapsed. The airport police are SIPTU members and so felt justified in refusing to pass the pickets. At lunchtime, the emergency fire services stopped. And then, for four hours, no one seemed to be in control. The airport finally shut.
But for four hours a major international airport "operated" without any security staff or fire crews. According to some reports, it was possible to walk from the front entrance of the airport, right the way through arrivals or departures halls, and on to the runway without being challenged.
This is a lapse which should never happen. That no one was seriously injured or killed is a tribute to the passengers' restraint and common sense.
Reliable information on precisely what happened during those four hours is hard to come by. And it appears that it was equally hard to come by for those people at the airport. In dealing with the problems posed by the sudden absence of staff, Aer Rianta seems to have forgotten the people for whom it is supposed to be providing a service. It took British Midland to let people know that the airport was actually closed.
Yesterday a letter appeared in this newspaper from one of the victims of this fiasco we might have forgotten. It was an Aer Lingus passenger stuck in Birmingham who had to find and pay for accommodation when he couldn't get a flight home.
This was a story which was repeated in many airports as thousands of people found that already stretched holiday budgets would have to be extended further.
Ireland's reputation as a trading nation suffered badly. Business people were unable to travel to meetings. Cargo flights were equally affected. Our trading partners' confidence in our ability to deliver on our promises has been seriously undermined.
Ultimately, it is the Irish people who were used and abused in this dispute. Our comfort, safety and money were the bargaining chips. And we had no say in it whatsoever. Our elected representatives had plenty of time to act before the situation got out of hand. The deal hammered out on Saturday night could, and should, have been achieved weeks ago.
So now we have another inquiry. And we have SIPTU and Mr Michael O'Leary involved in a form of negotiation. But I'm not very hopeful that this is the end of the matter.
Mr O'Leary has been more than clear about where he stands on union recognition. He refuses to have the vast majority of his 1,000 staff dictated to by the 39 baggage-handlers. SIPTU's Mr Des Geraghty's stance seems almost as entrenched. He will not rest until union membership is acknowledged and dealt with.
There will be a lot of people watching carefully how these negotiations proceed. Many of the US multinationals, particularly the computer companies, operate without unions. It is doubtful that they will want to continue operating here if they are forced to accept trade union interference in how they are run.
And there are many more companies considering moves here who also function without unions but are not able to pay their staff quite as handsomely as the Hewlett Packards of this world. They may already have decided that the risks are too great.
Of course, something like this will never happen again. Oh yeah? Aer Lingus has a dispute with the people in TEAM. Both sides have been refusing to budge. There is nothing to prevent those workers going on strike and picketing the airport.
We are a matter of weeks from Easter, a very busy time for the airport. The Taoiseach and the Tanaiste may also find themselves making a few phone calls that weekend.