The former Taoiseach, Mr Albert Reynolds, could face removal as Bula chairman at Monday's annual meeting if a group of disgruntled shareholders can muster sufficient support.

Mr Reynolds is up for re-election at the meeting but his re-appointment will be opposed by a number of shareholders dismayed by the company's recent performance and the suspension of its shares.

Bula's shares were suspended last April, leaving its 40,000 shareholders unable to deal in the stock.

In his chairman's statement to shareholders, Mr Reynolds is expected to counter his critics by outlining a strategy for taking the company forward and having it re-listed.

Among the items he is expected to propose are a share placing to raise up to €1 million in a bid to convince the Dublin and London Stock Exchanges that the company is in a fit state to continue.

He is also expected to propose the appointment of a larger board, of five to seven directors, to run the company.

At present, Bula is being run by a three-person board, which includes former managing director Mr Tom Kelly and executive director Mr Omar Issa Yazigi alongside Mr Reynolds.

The board had just two members until Mr Yazigi, a Syrian and formerly the firm's regional general manager for north Africa and Malta, was co-opted as an executive director in May.

He is also up for re-election at Monday's meeting.

Meanwhile, Mr Reynolds's continued tenure as company chairman is far from certain as a group of shareholders are determined to see him "sacked".

"He oversold himself, saying he was well in with the Arabs and with Libya but nothing's come of it," said a shareholder, who did not wish to be named.

He has been involved with Bula for a number of years and is in contact with other shareholders in the long-suffering company.

"The money's all gone, most of the directors are gone and the shares are suspended. He's fought with all of the chief executives. It's been nothing but a disaster with that fellow."

The shareholder said he and a number of other shareholders believed that if Mr Reynolds - who joined the board in 1999 - left and a new board was put in place, it might be possible to get fresh funding and the company's shares re-listed.

The shareholder said there was money due from Libya, which could, if it materialised, allow the company to trade again.

He was referring to uncertainty over the status of 50 million shares placed with the Ghaddafi International Charitable Foundation, headed by the son of Libyan leader Col Moammar Ghaddafi, and whether payment has been received for these shares. Questions have also been raised over the status of a $1.5 million (€1.52 million) "refundable deposit" paid for an asset in Bahrain.

Bula, which has operations in Libya and Iraq, has been at the centre of controversy in recent months.

Davy Stockbrokers resigned as its broker earlier this year, the shares were suspended in the wake of massive volatility in April and the company was the subject of a public censure from the Irish Stock Exchange for improper share transactions in July.

Bula lost its third managing director in under two years in June when Mr Kelly left the post.