"It's a marriage made in heaven, for Gay has a passion for air travel. I am honoured and delighted to welcome him to the board of Virgin Express. I know he will make an important contribution to the airline's continued success."
This was how Virgin Group chairman Mr Richard Branson announced at Shannon Airport yesterday the appointment of radio and TV personality Gay Byrne as the third non-executive director of Virgin Express Ireland Ltd. "It's a life contract," he added. The presenter of the Late Late Show explained: "I have been asked to join the main board but decided that one step at a time was good enough for me. The question of money was never mentioned," he added when asked by The Irish Times if he was to receive a substantial fee in view of the fact that he stated he was only taking on one directorship. "I have had many offers but only one at present is being considered." He said there was no question of the appointment compromising him because of being identified with a particular airline.
He said RTE was quite happy with his decision as he will have a much lower public profile from now on. This does not mean that he is severing his connections with broadcasting or television, he said, "but I will wait before considering anything else, for I have always said I would take a six-month sabbatical after RTE, which means it will be January 2000 before I do anything else".
He said he had known Virgin Airlines only by repute. "In fact I have never flown with them. You could say I am a born-again Virgin." He said that Richard Branson had mentioned it to him on several occasions but he had always said No. He explained his interest in aviation: "I learned to fly at Weston when I was a lonely bachelor."
The other two non-executive directors with Virgin Express are Mr Daven Hoare, the chief executive of Thorn, and a Belgian, Mr Luc Bertrand, managing director of an investment company.
The company has more than 80 employees at Shannon apart from its operations centre, which runs its English-speaking booking communications service. Virgin operates services to London Stansted twice a day from Shannon.