Sullivan might not have long to warm Eircom chair

SO IT'S au revoir to the colourful Frenchman Pierre Danon and g'day mate to Ned Sullivan, who is taking the chair at Aussie-owned Eircom.

He follows in illustrious footsteps - Eircom's former chairmen include no less than Sir Anthony O'Reilly.

It could all have been so different for Sullivan, who first tasted success as an executive in the 1980s, building Baileys into a global spirits brand.

Having left food group Glanbia, where he was a less than popular chief executive with the company's farmer shareholders in the wake of the Avonmore and Waterford Foods merger, Sullivan declined an offer to become Aer Lingus's chief executive in 2001.

This left the flightpath clear for a young Willie Walsh to take the controls and guide the airline through the post-9/11 turbulence that hit the aviation industry. Walsh's reputation soared and he is now the boss at British Airways.

In the intervening years, Sullivan has accumulated a number of non-executive directorships, namely at Anglo Irish Bank. He is also chairman of McInerney and sandwich maker Greencore. All three have seen their share prices tank this year.

While Sullivan has vast experience of the food and drinks industries, his choice as Eircom chairman is a little surprising.

Then again, with the company likely to change hands for the fifth time in a decade in the not-too- distant future, Sullivan might not be warming the chair for too long.