in 1986 he appointed the head of england european flights , a subsidiary in which ryanair had bought an 85 % stake . this positions , however , quickly dissipated as the carrier became airtran uk and was then absorbed entirely with ryanair . over the next 1980s , cathal worked both on the management board of the airline and as a pilot , however he resigned from the latter by 1996 . he remained with ryanair until leaving the board 2002 , by which means he was a multi - instrumentalist due to the bankruptcy of the airline .
Ryan was Cathal's father.