Eugene Sheehy, a 50-year-old Dubliner who has spent more than 30 years at AIB, has won the top job at the Republic's biggest bank.
Mr Sheehy, the former head of AIB's retail operations in Ireland, has been working at M&T Bank in the US, in which AIB has had a 22.5 per cent interest for the past three years. He will return to the Republic in April as AIB's chief executive designate.
Michael Buckley is due to retire in 2006 and, while the bank said no agreement has been reached on a possible earlier departure date, it is likely that he will step down from the €1.5 million job within the next six months.
Mr Sheehy had been the favourite internal candidate for some time and is said to be popular within the bank.
There had been some expectation that AIB chairman Dermot Gleeson might favour installing an outsider in response to the severe criticism of its culture in the wake of a succession of scandals.
Announcing the appointment yesterday, Mr Gleeson said that choosing the right person to succeed a chief executive of Mr Buckley's calibre was a difficult task.
"Eugene will bring a valuable mix of both internal and external experience to the role. He combines a 30-year career in AIB... with three years working at the very highest levels in M&T, one of the most successful banks in the US," he said.
AIB's share price was weaker in Dublin yesterday, shedding 27 cent to close at €15.63. The fall was not viewed as being related to Mr Sheehy's appointment.
Mr Sheehy joined AIB at 17, working in the branches, and rose through the ranks to head that business in 2001. Mr Buckley despatched him to the US in 2002 to handle the fall-out from the $691 million (€515 million) currency trading fraud at its Allfirst subsidiary in Baltimore, Maryland.
Within six weeks, he was appointed as executive chairman of Allfirst, and oversaw the investigation into the fraud and the sale of the bank a year later to M&T.
He subsequently took on the role of chairman and chief executive of M&T's mid-Atlantic division. He is a member of M&T's executive management team and sits on its board of directors.
Mr Sheehy is originally from Dublin and was educated at the Salesian College in Limerick. He is married to Cora and they have a son and a daughter.
AIB interviewed up to eight candidates for the post, including most of its senior executives. Those who were disappointed include AIB's head of finance, Gary Kennedy; Gerry Byrne, head of its Polish bank; and Colm Doherty, head of its capital markets division.
The Irish Bank Officials' Association yesterday warmly welcomed Mr Sheehy's appointment. General secretary Larry Broderick, who has worked with Mr Sheehy in the past, said he looked forward to engaging with him in the future.
