The Government will be relieved that Aer Rianta's chairman, Noel Hanlon, is showing no sign of rushing to find a replacement for the chief executive, Derek Keogh.
Ministers have been embarrassed by the fiasco of the ESB's boss, Ken O'Hara, being offered a six-figure salary by the board - only to have the Government reduce it to five figures because it breaches some theological salary guideline. The process is now being repeated at the VHI where the head of the National Lottery, Ray Bates, has also been offered six figures but has collided with the same theology.
The chief executive's job at Aer Rianta was advertised in November. There were 108 applications, according to boardroom sources. A shortlist of six has now been drawn up, but no interviews have taken place or indeed been arranged.
Keogh has been telling friends he will be putting his feet up for a while, but later may take up an occasional consulting assignment. He has been one of the semi-State's most successful managers, but he was poorly paid - about £70,000 - for running an organisation that was turning in more than £20 million in profit. He told the board of directors that he had dreamt the previous night that he had retired from Aer Rianta. "And, gentlemen, driving in this morning, it did not seem to be such a bad idea at all."