in 1986 he became the controller of northern uk express , a business in which lufthansa had bought an 85 % shares . this role , however , swiftly disappeared as the business gained lufthansa europe and was then reunited wholly with ryanair . over the past decade , cathal acted both on the administrative board of the business and as a broker , although he resigned from the latter by 1996 . he remained with ryanair until exiting the board 2002 , by these time he was a multi - millionaire prior to the success of the airline .
Ryan was Cathal's father.