{"id":666987,"date":"2026-10-27T16:58:08","date_gmt":"2026-10-27T16:58:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/666987\/"},"modified":"2026-10-27T16:58:08","modified_gmt":"2026-10-27T16:58:08","slug":"dublin-airport-operator-selects-lda-boss-john-coleman-as-new-chief-executive-the-irish-times","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/666987\/","title":{"rendered":"Dublin Airport operator selects LDA boss John Coleman as new chief executive \u2013 The Irish Times"},"content":{"rendered":"

DAA<\/a>, the State-owned operator of Dublin and Cork airports, has appointed Land Development Agency<\/a> (LDA) chief executive John Coleman as its new boss, replacing Kenny Jacobs<\/a>, who stepped down earlier this year.<\/p>\n

Coleman will be in situ for seven years, DAA said in a statement on Tuesday, and will take up the role early in 2027. <\/p>\n

He joins from the LDA, the Government agency established to strategically manage and develop housing on publicly-owned lands, since its establishment in 2018. Coleman previously served as chief financial officer at the National Asset Management Agency (Nama).<\/p>\n

DAA chairman Gary Owens said Coleman had been appointed \u201cfollowing a comprehensive selection process\u201d. <\/p>\n

\u201cHis familiarity with navigating complex planning and regulatory systems will also be of great value to DAA as we progress our plans for the long-term development of Dublin <\/a>and Cork airports<\/a>,\u201d Owens said.<\/p>\n

Coleman said he was \u201chonoured and excited\u201d to join the airport operator. \u201cThroughout my career, I have been driven by a belief that strong infrastructure, strong institutions and strong stakeholder partnerships are essential to national progress.\u201d<\/p>\n

In a separate written statement put out by the LDA, Coleman said his role at the agency had been \u201ca once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to establish an organisation focused solely on tackling one of the biggest challenges facing our country\u201d. <\/p>\n

He said the LDA had \u201cmade great progress\u201d in its first eight years. <\/p>\n

The LDA said the process to find Coleman\u2019s successor will \u201ccommence in the coming weeks\u201d. <\/p>\n

Details of Coleman\u2019s contract and pay have not yet been disclosed. However, based on previously reported figures, he is in line for a roughly 13.6 per cent increase in his basic salary once he takes up the position. <\/p>\n

Earlier this year, the executive renewed his contract with the LDA and received a \u20ac50,000 increase in his basic salary, bringing it to \u20ac250,000. <\/p>\n

Jacobs, meanwhile, received a basic salary of \u20ac284,235 at DAA in 2025. He also received pension contributions and other taxable benefits of \u20ac90,595.<\/p>\n

Coleman joins DAA after Jacobs stood down from the CEO role earlier this year amid disagreements with the State-owned airport operator\u2019s board. <\/p>\n

Jacobs, a former Ryanair executive, sued DAA in the High Court in January after he was suspended by the company in December 2025, pending an investigation into allegations made against him.<\/p>\n

He settled the action in February, agreeing to \u201cvoluntarily step down\u201d from the position.<\/p>\n

This followed Minister for Transport Darragh O\u2019Brien\u2019s refusal to sign off on an exit package for Jacobs, known to amount to a figure of close to \u20ac1 million, that had emerged in mediation between the two sides.<\/p>\n

In a statement on Tuesday, the minister said Coleman was taking on the role at DAA at \u201can important and challenging time for DAA\u201d. <\/p>\n

\u201cI worked with John during the previous Government, when he led the LDA, advancing the delivery of affordable homes and maximising the use of State-owned land,\u201d former housing minister O\u2019Brien said. \u201cHis leadership made an important contribution to addressing Ireland\u2019s housing needs, and I want to acknowledge and thank him for his work and achievements at the LDA.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"DAA, the State-owned operator of Dublin and Cork airports, has appointed Land Development Agency (LDA) chief executive John…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":666988,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[72,6949,10725,11900,61,60,12844,11595],"class_list":["post-666987","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-business","tag-business","tag-cork-airport","tag-daa","tag-dublin-airport","tag-ie","tag-ireland","tag-kenny-jacobs","tag-land-development-agency"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/666987","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=666987"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/666987\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/666988"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=666987"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=666987"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=666987"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}