Bank of Ireland has appointed Mr Laurence Crowley as governor designate. He will replace Mr Howard Kilroy as governor in July. Mr Kilroy, who joined the Bank of Ireland court of directors in 1991, will step down at the end of his third term.
Mr Crowley (62) joined the court of directors in 1990 and was deputy governor from 1995 to 1997. He is an accountant and is former managing partner of Stokes Kennedy Crowley, the firm in which his family were founders. SKC now trades as KPMG and is the one of the leading accountancy firms in the Republic.
Mr Crowley has a range of interests in the business sector. He is executive chairman of the Michael Smurfit Graduate School of Business at University College Dublin, chairman of cigarette company P.J. Carroll and a director of the pharmaceutical group Elan and of J. Rothschild International assurances.
The bank has also announced the departure of Mr Niall FitzGerald, executive chairman of Unilever, from the court of directors. Mr FitzGerald is leaving the bank due to pressure of other commitments but has indicated his willingness to re-join the court at some time in the future depending on his circumstances.
In a statement, Bank of Ireland said Mr FitzGerald's decision was accepted with regret as he had made a very substantial contribution to the bank since his appointment in 1990.
Meanwhile two of Bank of Ireland's most senior executives, Mr Paul D'Alton and Mr Brian Goggin, will join the court as executive directors. Mr D'Alton (48) is group chief financial officer. He joined the bank in 1991 and is responsible for all of the group's finance and risk functions. He came to Bank of Ireland from Aer Lingus.
Mr Goggin (47) is chief executive of Bank of Ireland's corporate and treasury operations. He joined the bank in 1969 and has held senior management positions in the US, Britain and the Republic. He is also president of the Institute of Bankers.
The new court of directors will have key responsibility for the selection and appointment of a new group chief executive to succeed Mr Maurice Keane when he retires in February 2002.
