Seán FitzPatrick presided over one of Ireland's greatest boom-and-bust stories, write Simon Carswelland Ciarán Hancock

THE DEPARTURE of Seán FitzPatrick from the boards of Ireland's best-known companies - Anglo Irish Bank, Aer Lingus and Smurfit Kappa - marks the end of an illustrious corporate career.

As chief executive and subsequently chairman of Anglo, FitzPatrick presided over one of Ireland's greatest boom-and-bust stories and became one of the State's most prominent bankers during a 33-year career with the business and property lender.

FitzPatrick built the bank from a net worth of €5 million in 1985, growing it to €13.3 billion at its peak in mid-2007, only to see the bank shed €13 billion in value in just 19 months.

The bank's closing share price of 32 cent yesterday - just 4 cent above this year's low - compared with a peak share price of €17.53 last year.

The bank is currently worth €258.3 million.

The value of the bank crumbled amid mounting concerns about Anglo's heavy exposure to collapsing property values - a sector that the bank milked during the boom.

More than 80 per cent of Anglo's loans are to property investment and construction.

Of the six guaranteed Irish-owned lenders, only Irish Nationwide has the same kind of exposure to the faltering property market, although all domestic lenders expect significantly higher losses on their loans to this sector.

A long-time poster boy for Irish banking, FitzPatrick came close to assuming the mantle of whipping boy for the industry when he took the bold decision to be a guest on Marian Finucane's RTÉ Radio 1 programme on the Saturday after the Government announced the €440 billion bank guarantee.

When prompted, he thanked taxpayers for the unprecedented exposure assumed by the State for the country's banks, but refused to say sorry for the crisis, adding that Irish banks were merely victims of the global credit crunch, just like all other financial institutions around the world.

Despite his attempts to blame the global banking crisis for the local turmoil, many felt the Government's hand had been forced by concerns over whether Anglo would survive, following the 46 per cent drop in its share price the previous day.

Speaking on the RTÉ show and later that weekend at a seminar in Greystones, FitzPatrick praised the Government's "decisive, bold and imaginative" guarantee, maintaining that "if one Irish bank toppled, they were all going to fall - every single one".

However, he warned the Government not to charge the banks too much for the guarantee, saying: "The banks should pay for it, but they should not be crippled in what they are asked to pay either - the cure should not be worse than the ailment."

FitzPatrick also used the public opportunity to defend Anglo's heavy property exposure, saying its loans were not just secured on property but rents from tenants in those properties.

Few investors believe that will be enough, as the declining share price has shown.

Anglo and FitzPatrick have become synonymous in Irish business life over the past three decades.

FitzPatrick abandoned a short career as a chartered accountant for banking in 1986, getting his first break managing "little" Anglo and its staff of eight.

"We had red ledgers that we used to look at on a daily basis," he said in an interview five years ago. "Every Monday, myself and Peter Killen [another Anglo director] would look at them and shout across to each other whether we would do this loan or another.

"We were talking about loans of about £5,000 and £10,000. Progress was when we got two ledgers, one from A-M and another for N-Z, then three, and then we moved to computers. We grew by trying to survive."

The bank built up a reputation as a niche lender, targeting the customers of much bigger banks with offers of loans for specific business ventures.

Anglo became an aggressive lender during the property boom, offering investors and developers the loans they wanted, approved in a short space of time, but in return demanded high levels of collateral, security on a variety of other assets and stringent personal guarantees.

FitzPatrick became chief executive of the bank in 1986. His appointment as non-executive chairman of Anglo when he was replaced as chief executive by David Drumm at the end of 2004 was seen by many fund managers as running counter to best practice guidelines on corporate governance.

The bank defended the move, saying it was appropriate, if the shareholders approved it.

Aside from his career in banking, FitzPatrick took the high-profile position of chairman at packaging giant Smurfit Kappa, filling the post made vacant by Michael Smurfit.

He is also a senior independent director of Aer Lingus, where he headed up the board's subcommittee to find a replacement for John Sharman.

He is believed to have personally approached financier Dermot Desmond with the offer of becoming Aer Lingus's chairman, which was turned down. FitzPatrick and Desmond are friends.

The Irish banker attended several Celtic football matches in the company of Desmond, the club's major shareholder.

FitzPatrick eventually secured the services of experienced aviation executive Colm Barrington.

His loss to Aer Lingus at a time when it is defending a second takeover approach from Ryanair is undoubtedly a blow to the airline.

Ironically, despite the difficulties facing Anglo - and the bank's need for fresh capital to strengthen itself against the sharp increase in projected loan losses - FitzPatrick is stepping down for reasons unconnected with the bank's likely take-up of the State's recently announced €10 billion recapitalisation fund.

Anglo is now poised to draw capital from the Government and possibly private investors to ensure it can remain buoyant in these choppy financial seas, but without FitzPatrick at the rudder of a ship he helped build.