Irish Life & Permanent has appointed Denis Casey as chief executive of its banking arm, Permanent TSB, as part of a reshuffle of its senior management.
He will be succeeded as head of Irish Life's retail operations by Kevin Murphy, the current chief executive of the group's investment arm, Irish Life Investment Managers (ILIM). The changes, which will see the current head of Permanent TSB, Brian McConnell, retire from the group at the end of June, form part of the group's succession planning.
Mr McConnell, who will be 60 next year, had originally been scheduled to retire in 2006.
But Irish Life & Permanent's chief executive, David Went, said the date had been brought forward to allow "for the broadening of the experience of senior executives in the context of the group's overall succession planning."
It is understood that Irish Life & Permanent took the view that with Mr Went due to retire at the end of 2007, it made sense to bring forward Mr McConnell's retirement date rather than being faced with the departure of its two most senior executives in close proximity.
Mr Casey and Mr Murphy, along with Irish Life & Permanent's finance director Peter Fitzpatrick, would be seen as the leading internal candidates to take over from Mr Went.
Mr Casey, who is 45, joined Irish Life in 1980 having started his career with AIB.
A certified accountant, he has held senior management positions in both Ireland and Britain and joined the board of the company five years ago.
Mr Murphy, who is 53, has been responsible for Irish Life's corporate business as well as running its investment arm.
An actuary and an employee of Irish Life since 1972, he was appointed a main board director following the merger of Irish Life and Irish Permanent in 1999.
He will be replaced as head of ILIM by Mr Gerry Keenan, who is currently director of investment development at ILIM.
Shares in the company were unfazed by the news, closing 1.5 per cent higher at €13.40 as the banking sector had a good day and market sources said there was no "great shock" in the announcement.
Mr Went said the task for the incoming chief executives would be "to develop the outstanding franchise that their businesses currently enjoy and maintain the momentum."
