A union has given Ryanair a deadline of noon tomorrow to address its proposals.

Last week, Ryanair announced its unexpected decision to recognise unions in a bid to avoid a strike that had been planned for today.

Yesterday, management met with a union for the first time in the company's history.

In a statement after the meeting, the IMPACT union - which includes the Irish pilots' association - said: “While Ryanair management said they recognised IMPACT/IALPA for collective bargaining purposes at this evening’s meeting (19th December), they said they were unable to give the union a piece of paper to confirm this. This is disappointing given all that’s been said in the media over the last five days."

It adds: "The company has taken away proposals put by IMPACT/IALPA at the meeting. IMPACT/IALPA told management it expected a quick response to these proposals, and that a recognition agreement must be concluded by 12.00 (noon) on Thursday 21st December 2017."

The union warns that it may still proceed with strike action "in the absence of a timely agreement".

Bernard Harbor of IMPACT said Ryanair's next move will demonstrate whether it is serious.