The Taoiseach, Mr Ahern, has said he would like to see the Great Southern group of hotels remain as a group and as hotels.
Currently owned by Aer Rianta, the nine hotels are expected to transfer to the new Dublin Airport Company in the autumn.
Mr Ahern said he would like them to continue in State ownership. He had a personal liking for the hotels and had fought strongly to retain them as a group over the years.
In recent years there have been approaches to buy the hotels individually. Mr Ahern denied rumours which circulated last week that the hotels were already sold to an American hotel group.
The Minister for Transport, Mr Brennan, said in Killarney last week the issue would be what was best for the future of the chain. He would insist on full consultation with staff and trade unions were there to be any changes.
The Great Southern hotel in Killarney celebrates 150 years this year. Mr Ahern, who is on holiday and staying at the Parknasilla Great Southern in Sneem, unveiled a plaque to mark the occasion. He said: "It must have been quite something to have Queen Victoria's royal entourage milling around the hotel in 1861," he recalled.
"It must have been quite an occasion. No doubt if I was here [at the time\] I would have been on the protest line," he quipped.
Mr Ahern signed copies of a history of the hotel by Mr Frank Corr for four staff members who between them had clocked up 150 years at the hotel.
Mr Dave O'Connell, a chef, joined in 1956; Mr Thomas O'Regan, a porter, joined in 1964; Mr Michael McGillicuddy, a waiter, joined in 1968, and Ms Joan Corcoran of accommodation services joined in 1978.