Ex BAA boss joins powerful new Dublin airport board as Transport Minister boosts Aer Rianta reforms

IRELAND. Minister of Transport Seamus Brennan yesterday announced a line-up of big names for the board of Dublin Airport as his plans for breaking up state-owned airports operator and retailer Aer Rianta came closer.

The Minister also revealed that the Government has approved the drafting of legislation to establish Dublin, Cork and Shannon as fully independent state-owned airports. No further mention was made of the fate of international airports and retail arm Aer Rianta International.

Among the line-up joining the board is Renault chief Bill Cullen. He is also president of the Irish Youth Foundation. He is joined by Mary Davis, chief executive of the World Special Olympics and current chairperson of the St Patrick’s Festival. An interesting addition is Sir Michael Hodgkinson, former chief executive of UK airports company BAA and a man with intimate knowledge of non-aeronautical revenues as well as general airport operations.

Aviation leasing financier Colm Barrington also joins the new board. He is a former chief operating officer at aircraft leasing group GPA.

The new board will be chaired by Jefferson Smurfit chief executive Gary McGann, who previously worked for six years as chief of Aer Lingus. Tony Spollen, the former head of internal audits at AIB, has also been selected. He is best-known for “˜blowing the whistle’ on the bank at the Public Accounts Committee probe into the country’s infamous Dirt scandal.

Marie O’Connor, a partner at accountants PricewaterhouseCoopers, will be the second woman on the board. She is joined by Desmond Cummins of the Small Firms Association, who has held the Transport and Infrastructure brief at the lobby group.

Trade unions have been invited to nominate members to fill four positions reserved for worker directors.

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