Ground control to Mr Brennan: what’s the real airports agenda?

I SEE that the Minister for Transport is preparing to split up Aer Rianta into three companies – one to manage Cork airport, another for Shannon and a third for Dublin.

While the rationale for this is unclear, the main reason given is that the present company gives too much attention to Dublin at the expense of Cork and Shannon. The suggestion is that Cork and Shannon would do better if they had their own companies.

A few years ago Aer Rianta was publicly acknowledged as our best state company "the jewel in the crown", as one minister called it.