When the almost un-noted involvement of an Irish State body in the privatisation of the UK air traffic control system was welcomed by Eamon Brennan of the Irish Aviation Authority, he described it as a defensive move that would secure the future of the IAA for the next 10 years. He might have added that it would also secure his future, because the brother of the Government Chief Whip, Seamus Brennan, has been named interim chief executive of the Airline Group which joined with IAA to take a 46 per cent stake in the National Air Traffic Control Services. The Irish State company now finds itself in bed with pillars of capitalism such as EasyJet, British Airways, Virgin Atlantic and British Midland.