Ted Henneberry resigned from the Competition Authority yesterday, making the American the third board member this year to announce his departure. Mr Henneberry will quit his post on February 1st and return to Washington DC for "family reasons".

Henneberry's resignation will leave the authority, designed to enforce competition law in Ireland to help protect consumers, with just two board members.

Mr Henneberry said he is returning to the US with his wife so they can spend more time with their two young grandchildren. He plans to wait until a new member joins the board in February to replace Terry Calvani, who quit in May to go back to the US to work for a legal firm specialising in antitrust law.

John Fingleton resigned as chairman of the Competition Authority to become chief executive of the Office of Fair Trading in Britain.