Mr Mike Soden, the Bank of Ireland group chief executive, has resigned after admitting today that he websites linking to those containing adult material.
In a personal statement released this afternoon Mr Soden said he had taken the decision following "access by me on my PC to internet sites that contain content that infringed the Group's policy on these matters. The content accessed was not illegal but did contain links to material of an adult nature.
"I now understand and accept that in doing this I breached the policies of the Bank of Ireland."
"I now accept that accessing this material was inappropriate and would cause embarrassment to Bank of Ireland and to the people who work there. I deeply regret any such embarrassment."
In a separate statement, Bank of Ireland confirmed Mr Soden's resignation has been accepted by the bank's Court of Directors.
"Mike has made an enormous contribution to the Group since he took up the position as Group Chief Executive in March, 2002. He is leaving us having placed the Group in a position of solid strength for future growth."
A Bank of Ireland spokeswoman added that the issue came to light last Wednesday as part of systematic screening of internet usage. This was introduced as part of the bank's policy internet policy introduced in 2003.
She said that under this code of practice employees were "liable to disciplinary matters up to and including dismissal" if they accessed inappropriate websites.
She admitted that a "small number" of incidences had arisen under this code of conduct and added they were dealt with in an appropriate manner. She would not say if anyone else had left the bank for breaking its internet code.
An announcement on Mr Soden's successor is expected to me made next week.