Cork airport chairman urged to revisit debt issue

THE new chairman of the Cork Airport Authority (CAA) has been urged to revisit its controversial €113 million debt issue.

Transport Minister Noel Dempsey confirmed yesterday that former Bórd Gáis boss Gerry Walsh will replace Joe Gantly who resigned from the authority earlier this year.

Fine Gael said addressing the airport’s potentially crippling debt should be his top priority.

The authority voted earlier this year to accept the controversial debt to secure independence from the Dublin Airport Authority (DAA). Mr Gantly stepped down a few weeks later.

After months of criticism over the delay in filling the vacancy, Mr Dempsey made the announcement early yesterday morning.

“Gerry has an outstanding track record at a senior executive level in business in Ireland over many years,” Mr Dempsey said.

“I know that he will bring the same levels of skill, energy and enthusiasm that he demonstrated in his previous work to the challenging field of aviation.”

Mr Walsh would not be drawn on his plans last night. “I am honoured to have been asked to get involved. I am looking forward to meeting the rest of the board and getting down to business,” he said.

Sources close to the authority welcomed his appointment and described him as a straight talker.

Cork Chamber said all efforts should focus on the authority achieving independence.

“This is vital if the CAA is to be equipped with the autonomy to set out its own business strategy, maintain stability and achieve further growth,” chamber chief executive Conor Healy said.

Fine Gael senator Jerry Buttimer said the authority must now revisit its business plan to reflect the present economic situation.

“Mr Walsh, in his new role, must ensure that staff are supported in encouraging new routes out of Cork and most importantly in advancing the cause of Cork as a debt free airport,” he said. “The board must ensure its independence and must become more assertive in wholly rejecting the debt which has been imposed on it by the Government.”

Party colleague Deirdre Clune said allowing Cork Airport to remain leaderless and rudderless for months “was nothing short of neglect”.

“Until the airport is fully independent from the DAA, the airport and the entire region will be at a major disadvantage,” she said.

Originally from Millstreet, Mr Walsh is a former chief executive officer of Bórd Gáis.

An engineering graduate from University College Cork, he holds an MBA from UCC.

He played a key role in securing Bord Gáis’s involvement in Aughinish Power in conjunction with Aughinish Alumina and ATCO Power, he led the development of the Bord Gáis independent Combined Heat and Power Business, and he was directly responsible for setting up Bord Gáis’s UK-based utility infrastructure division, UGI Ltd. He was appointed chief executive and to the board in 2000 and retired in 2007.

The minister also announced two other appointments to fill vacancies on the CAA arising from the resignation of Loretta Brennan-Glucksman last month and the death in July 2007 of Eoin Ó Catháin.

Dick Lehane, a former chief executive of EMC, based in Ovens, Co Cork, and Annette McNamara, assistant principal of Scoil Muire Gan Smál, in Blarney, Co Cork, and former Fianna Fáil county councillor, will fill the vacancies.