BANK OF IRELAND has announced that five members of its board of directors are to step down and will not seek re-election at a meeting next month.

Three non-executive directors – Paul Haran, Dennis Holt and Heather Ann McSharry – are to step down, as part of what the bank described as “facilitating further board renewal and a reduction in size of the group board”.

In order to retain a balance between executive and non-executive directors, Denis Donovan and Des Crowley would also be stepping down – though the latter pair are to remain on the bank’s Group Executive.

Bank of Ireland’s board currently has 16 members; it is unclear to what extent the size of the board will be reduced. Finance minister Michael Noonan has asked the bank to provide a Board Renewal Plan, which may not be completed for several months.

Elections to replace some of the members will take place at the bank’s Annual General Court next month.

Last month the government issued public advertisements seeking declarations of interest from the public with regard to potential appointments to the boards of the country’s banks.

The Minister for Finance gained the power to remove people from the boards of state-guaranteed institutions when the Credit Institutions Act was passed in the last days of the previous administration.

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