New Senior appointment to Bank of Ireland Business Banking

Bank of Ireland today (5 July 2006) announced the appointment of Denis McArdle as Head of Business Banking - Dublin with immediate effect.

A career banker, Denis's most recent role was as Director Business Banking where he headed up Business Banking at Ulster Bank over the past 5 years. He spent a total of 34 years in various roles in Ulster Bank.

Commenting Richie Boucher, Chief Executive, Retail Financial Services Ireland, Bank of Ireland said: "We are delighted to welcome Denis as Head of Business Banking in Dublin. We have been aggressively growing our business banking market share over the past two years. During that time a number of key developments have taken place where we have moved from a one-size fits all approach to a more sectoral-based focus in 2005. The business is exclusively focused on the SME and agri markets. We have launched several key propositions including specialist offers for business start-ups, intermediaries, professionals, franchising and pharmacies. We also recruited a leading intermediary team to support the needs of this market. We most recently launched a comprehensive small business market-leading proposition with multi-channel delivery and we intend to develop further specific sectoral propositions during the year.

"Today's announcement is part of business banking's strategy to continue to aggressively grow market share. Denis has a proven track record in business development and brings with him a wealth of branch and business banking experience. Working with our Regional Business Managers, he will focus specifically on continuing to grow our business banking market share in Dublin", he added.

Ends

Anne Mathews
Media Relations Manager
Group Corporate Communications
Tel:01-6043836
Fax:01-6767850
www.boi.ie/pressroom
Mobile:087 246 0358
E-mail:anne.mathews@boimail.com