Bank of Ireland's affable governor, Mr Howard Kilroy, humoured the more than 400 shareholders attending its annual general meeting but for all the pleasantries there was no denying the prevailing sense of disappointment in the room.

European Commission allegations that Bank of Ireland conspired with other banks to fix foreign exchange commissions, the Revenue investigation arising out of the DIRT Inquiry and the poor performance of the shares were the main gripes raised by shareholders.

Referring to the price fixing allegations, Ms Mairead Foley, told the court of directors it had no mandate to practice dishonesty. "If there has been overcharging let the bank acknowledge it and express its regret and remember it is the ordinary shareholders who ultimately pay that penalty," she said.

Mr Kilroy totally rejected the price fixing allegations saying the bank would vigorously defend accusations that it operated a cartel with AIB. "It's a joke to say we were involved in a conspiracy with AIB. We have never worked with them in that context. We believe we have no case to answer and will successfully defend any such allegations that come our way."

The governor inferred the ongoing investigation was nothing more than a "political flag-waving exercise" from which the bank would emerge unscathed.

Referring to the DIRT Inquiry, Mr Kilroy said the bank had decided to pay the Revenue Commissioners £30.5 million in full settlement of arrears due on bogus non-resident accounts in the 1980s and 1990s. He acknowledged shareholder disappointment with the bank's involvement in facilitating tax evasion saying it was a regrettable episode. "In the late 1980s, practice in all of the banks was less than it might be. Those were different times. We are not trying to dodge our responsibilities and are not making any excuses and we are determined it will not arise again," he told the meeting.

With this out of the way the thorny issue of the share price still lingered. Mr Hubert Hackett told Mr Kilroy the bank "needs to get its act together" to address the decline in the share price. The governor assured the meeting that the bank was as exercised about the low share price as the shareholders, particularly Bank of Ireland's executive management team much of whose financial wealth is determined by the share price. "Many of the people on the court (board) have more than a passing interest in the share price. The best answer to the share price is the performance of the bank itself. We can't rig the market. Two years ago we were doing rather better. If the same multiples now applied the shares would be priced at around €14. We can only drive the business forward."

This statement was less than heartening for the shareholders. "That's not much use to people who have put their hard-earned money into the shares. We would be better off playing a melodian on the street," one man quipped.