Heraty resigns from Irish Stock Exchange

THE ANGLO Irish affair claimed another casualty last night with the unexpected resignation of former Anglo director Anne Heraty from the board of the Irish Stock Exchange.

Ms Heraty was among the five remaining non-executive directors to resign en masse from the bank last month in the immediate aftermath of its nationalisation. Many of those directors retain senior positions elsewhere in the business world.

A spokesman for the Irish Stock Exchange said last night that Ms Heraty had resigned with immediate effect. The chairman of the exchange, former NCB Stockbrokers chief executive Padraic O’Connor, thanked Ms Heraty for her service. There was no further comment from the exchange.

The exchange itself is conducting a regulatory investigation into Anglo’s affairs. This is in addition to investigations by the financial regulator and the Office of the Director of Corporate Enforcement, Paul Appleby.

The stock exchange is the regulator of the Irish stock market. Its board represents “wider market interests” and member firms, some of whose chief executives sit on the board of the Irish Stock Exchange.

Ms Heraty is chief executive and founder of the listed recruitment company CPL Resources. Founded in 1990, it floated on the stock exchange in 1999. At the time, Ms Heraty was the only woman chief executive of an Irish listed company. She is a former winner of the Ernst Young Entrepreneur of the Year award.

Shares in CPL have dipped sharply in the past year as the recession eats into the recruitment business. They have lost almost 75 per cent of their value in the past 122 months, underperforming even the freefalling Irish Stock Exchange.

A spokesman for the Tánaiste yesterday declined to comment when asked whether it was appropriate for Ms Heraty to stay on the board of Forfás. A spokeswoman for Green Party energy minister Eamon Ryan did not respond when asked whether it was appropriate for Ms Heraty to continue as a director of Bord na Móna.

A spokeswoman for Minister for Transport Noel Dempsey declined to comment yesterday on whether it was appropriate for former another Anglo director Gary McGann to remain as chairman of the Dublin Airport Authority.

When asked last week about a call from Ryanair for him to stand down from that role, Mr McGann said: “I’m appointed by the shareholder. I continue to be chairman of the DAA and life goes on.”