CORPORATE LAWYER Pádraig Ó Ríordáin of Arthur Cox, who was a lead adviser to the government during the banking crisis, has agreed to become the next chairman of the Dublin Airport Authority.
Mr Ó Ríordáin’s selection has been sanctioned by Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform Brendan Howlin, and he will go before the Oireachtas committee on transport early in the new year to have his appointment ratified.
In the meantime, Mr Ó Ríordáin will be chairman designate of the DAA.
He replaces David Dilger in the post and will serve a three-year term with remuneration of €31,500 annually.
Mr Dilger resigned suddenly from the DAA in May after just two years in the role. The position has been vacant since then.
The Department of Transport is believed to have sounded out a number of candidates to fill the role in the intervening period. These included board members of the DAA and Irish aircraft-leasing executive Dómhnal Slattery.
Mr Ó Ríordáin was managing partner of Arthur Cox from 2003 until this year.
He trained in a Wall Street law firm prior to joining Arthur Cox as head of its New York office.
Mr Ó Ríordáin gained legal qualifications in UCC, King’s Inns and Harvard University in Boston.
In addition to his role with Arthur Cox, Mr Ó Ríordáin is a non-executive director of Irish-listed companies Paddy Power and TVC, and a member of the European Commission’s Insolvency Law Expert Group.
Mr Ó Ríordáin’s appointment might result in questions being raised about a potential conflict of interest given that Arthur Cox acts as a legal adviser to Aer Lingus, the DAA’s biggest airline customer.
A spokesman for the department said no such conflict exists as Mr Ó Ríordáin does not personally advise Aer Lingus and has not worked on that account for many years.
As chairman of the DAA, Mr Ó Ríordáin will have a number of key issues to deal with. These include the appointment of a new chief executive to replace Declan Collier, a plan to return its airports to growth, a resolution of the thorny pension deficit, and the separation of Cork and Shannon airports.
Mr Ó Ríordáin’s roles in the financial crisis included assisting the State in its refinancing arrangements with the IMF, the EU and the ECB and the recapitalisations and equity structuring of AIB, Bank of Ireland and Irish Life Permanent.
He also advised on the nationalisation and restructuring of Anglo Irish Bank and Irish Nationwide Building Society, and the establishment of the National Asset Management Agency.
Mr Ó Ríordáin also advised on the initial public offerings of Paddy Power, Eircom and TVC.