"I wish to announce that I have tendered my resignation as group chief executive at Bank of Ireland with immediate effect.

I have taken this decision for personal reasons.

This arises from access by me on my PC to Internet sites that contain content that infringed the group's policy on these matters. The content accessed was not illegal but did contain links to material of an adult nature.

I now understand and accept that in doing this I breached the policies of the Bank of Ireland.

I have made it a central part of my tenure as group chief executive to set the highest standards of integrity and behaviour and to do so in an environment of accountability, transparency and openness.

I now accept that accessing this material was inappropriate and would cause embarrassment to Bank of Ireland and to the people who work there. I deeply regret any such embarrassment.

For this reason and because I believe that leaders of organisations should be measured by the highest standards, I have made this decision.

I will leave Bank of Ireland with considerable regret but also in the knowledge that great progress has been achieved in the business during my term as group chief executive." ... May 29th, 2004.