THE HEAD of Halifax, the retail business of Bank of Scotland (Ireland), is returning to Bank of Ireland after only a year in the job.

Gabriel Bannigan (39) joined Bank of Scotland (Ireland) in April of last year and was in charge of the bank's retail business and the expansion of its Halifax branch network.

Yesterday was his last day at the bank but he will not start in his new position at Bank of Ireland until August.

He moved to Bank of Scotland (Ireland) as head of retail and intermediary banking from Bank of Ireland, where he was head of strategy and marketing and managing director of Bank of Ireland Insurance Services. He will return to Bank of Ireland as director of strategy and marketing in the bank's Irish retail financial services division.

Mr Bannigan is being replaced at Bank of Scotland (Ireland) by Antoinette Dunne (40), who is returning to the retail side of the business after being in charge of business banking.

Ms Dunne managed the roll-out of the Halifax brand, working on the conversion of a third of the ESB stores, acquired by Bank of Scotland (Ireland) in 2005, into branches. The bank has opened 41 Halifax branches in the Republic and is planning to open another five this year.