The Minister for Transport, Mr Brennan, has announced the membership of the new Cork Airport Authority.

As previously announced, the board will be chaired by Mr Joe Gantly, the former managing director of European operations for Apple in Europe.

The other members of the board-designate are: Mr Pat Dalton, chief financial office of Bord Gáis; Ms Loretta Glucksman, chairwoman of the American Ireland Fund; Mr Humphrey Murphy, director of Global Stainless; Mr Don Cullinane, chief executive of Beacon Travel; Mr Alf Smiddy, managing director of Beamish & Crawford; Ms Veronica Perdisatt, chairwoman of the Kilkenny Group; and Mr Eoin Ó Cathain, managing director of Ó Cathain Iasc.

The trade unions have been invited to nominate members to fill the four positions reserved for worker directors. The boards-designate for Dublin and Shannon airports have already been announced as part of the Government plan to break up Aer Rianta. Each of the new boards will have to prepare detailed business and financial plans.

Under the recent legislation passed to facilitate the break-up of Aer Rianta, these plans must be approved by the ministers for Transport and Finance before the restructuring is implemented.

The Minister, Mr Brennan, said he wished to stress that the new airport authorities will continue to be state-owned.