{"id":381743,"date":"2026-04-04T14:24:12","date_gmt":"2026-04-04T14:24:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/381743\/"},"modified":"2026-04-04T14:24:12","modified_gmt":"2026-04-04T14:24:12","slug":"darragh-obrien-must-swiftly-fill-eight-senior-posts-at-airport-operator-daa-the-irish-times","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/381743\/","title":{"rendered":"Darragh O\u2019Brien must swiftly fill eight senior posts at airport operator DAA \u2013 The Irish Times"},"content":{"rendered":"

The move to new leadership at State-owned DAA <\/a>is under way. But with global aviation in turmoil over war in the Middle East, the changeover can\u2019t come quickly enough for the company that operates Dublin and Cork airports. <\/p>\n

Will there be a rapid transition? Not likely, given past form.<\/p>\n

Minister for Transport Darragh O\u2019Brien <\/a>is seeking four non-executive directors to fill vacancies for ordinary DAA board members. He also needs a successor to non-executive chairman Basil Geoghegan, who leaves in June. Vacancies don\u2019t end there. Another two board slots open in July and September.<\/p>\n

Then there is the vacant board seat normally occupied, ex officio, by DAA\u2019s chief executive<\/a>. That post has been open since Kenny Jacobs left in February after settling High Court claims against DAA. Deputy chief executive Nick Cole is now in charge, but his role does not confer board membership.<\/p>\n

A formal process for selecting a permanent chief executive is imminent. Still, a name is unlikely to be brought to the DAA board before August. The need for the Minister\u2019s approval means it could be autumn before an appointment is finalised.<\/p>\n

\"\"Iran\u2019s cyber-attacks on Irish-based companies and the ongoing impact of conflict in the Middle East<\/p>\n

Thus a grand total of eight senior posts <\/a>are to be filled, which would a handful for any organisation but the pressures on DAA are greater still.<\/p>\n

The DAA board spent most of 2025 in a battle with Jacobs. This was a distraction from serious Fingal County Council planning issues and pivotal Dublin Airport passenger cap issues, which have roiled relations with Ryanair, Aer Lingus and American carriers.<\/p>\n

Now the oil price shock set off by the US-Israel attack on Iran has raised the prospect of jet-fuel shortages and fare surcharges. War fallout, worsening all the time, has clear potential to disrupt DAA\u2019s business plans. In addition, its Aer Rianta International arm is in the Lebanese capital, Beirut, and also Abu Dhabi in the United Arab Emirates, Muscat in Oman and Manama, Bahrain. <\/p>\n

As risks multiply, O\u2019Brien needs to get a move on. DAA\u2019s annual general meeting takes place this month, in essence, a meeting with the Minister and his department. A new chairman\/woman might be named in May, but that would only be a start.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The move to new leadership at State-owned DAA is under way. But with global aviation in turmoil over…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":381744,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[72,6572,10725,15910,11900,61,60,12844],"class_list":{"0":"post-381743","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-business","8":"tag-business","9":"tag-cantillon","10":"tag-daa","11":"tag-darragh-o-brien","12":"tag-dublin-airport","13":"tag-ie","14":"tag-ireland","15":"tag-kenny-jacobs"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/381743","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=381743"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/381743\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/381744"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=381743"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=381743"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=381743"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}