Dermot O'Leary has apologised unreservedly for the incident in which Liam Lawlor slipped into Dublin Airport through an unauthorised exit.
The Aer Rianta board member, who is also a member of the Fianna Fáil National Executive, has written a letter to the Minister for Public Enterprise.
Mr O'Leary said that he had made the request on compassionate grounds for Mr Lawlor's wife, Hazel, but did not foresee the difficulty that it might cause to Aer Rianta, the Government and the Minister.
A spokesman for Mary O'Rourke said that she had accepted his apology.
The controversy stems from Liam Lawlor being allowed to slip through an unauthorised exit at Dublin Airport upon his return from the United States to serve his second jail sentence in Mountjoy.
Mr O'Leary's apology follows a meeting between the Aer Rianta chairman and the Minster for Public Enterprise this afternoon. Noel Hanlon phoned Mr O'Leary following his meeting with Mary O'Rourke.
