DUBLIN (Reuters) - Ryanair (>> Ryanair Holdings plc) will refer rival Lufthansa's (>> Deutsche Lufthansa) 210 million euro (188.38 million pounds)deal to buy large parts of insolvent Air Berlin (>> Air Berlin Plc) - a process it has previously described as "a stitch-up" - to European Union competition authorities.

"We will be referring the matter to the EU competition authority in due course," a Ryanair spokesman said in an emailed statement after the deal was announced, declining further comment.

(Reporting by Padraic Halpin and Conor Humphries, editing by David Evans)

Stocks treated in this article : Deutsche Lufthansa, Air Berlin Plc, Ryanair Holdings plc