Minister keen to appoint Cork Airport chairman successor

The Minister for Transport will appoint a new Chairman for the Cork Airport Authority (CAA) “as soon as possible”.

Existing Chairman Joe Gantly made the shock announcement yesterday that he was stepping down as chairman of the CAA in July.

Minister for Transport Noel Dempsey and the Minister for Finance, currently Brian Cowen, will jointly appoint the chairperson for the Airport Board.

The Minister for Transport will be keen to appoint a successor to Mr Gantly before his work officially ends in July.

“The Minister will want to make sure that he finds the right person for the job. It can be either an internal appointment of an existing board member or an external appointment. The Minister likes to have all boards full, ” a spokesperson for Minister Demmpsey said.

Meanwhile, Cork TDs have blamed the Government’s broken promises for Mr Gantly’s decision to step down as chairman of the board.

His decision came less than two weeks after he cast the deciding vote for Cork Airport to accept a 113m debt in order to gain independence from the Dublin Airport Authority (DAA).

Fine Gael TD Simon Coveney said: “This saga has gone on for three years. It has caused deep divisions within the board at Cork Airport.”

Similarly, Senator Jerry Buttimer said the Government’s decision to renege on a promise for a debt-free independent airport had placed the board of Cork Airport in an impossible position.

Article courtesy of The Evening Echo