The board members of Anglo Irish Bank have been a busy bunch of late, making and spending money. Two of the bank's executive directors realised hefty sums when they decided to cash in on the bank's strong share price performance in the year to date.

But shareholders will have been reassured to see that Anglo's non-executive directors have also been buying stock.

Chief operating officer Tiarnan O'Mahoney and the bank's head of risk asset management, Peter Killen, realised more than €1 million and €630,000 respectively when they sold shares in late May after the stock hit a high of €7.05.

But a number of non-executive directors have taken advantage of some slippage in the share price in recent weeks to build up their stakes in the bank.

The three most recent appointees to the board, Paddy Wright, Ned Sullivan and Fintan Drury, have all been in the market to buy shares at prices ranging from €6.36 to €6.80.

Mr Wright, who joined the board in February 2000, spent nearly €190,000 buying shares in the bank earlier this month. He has been joined by former Glanbia managing director Ned Sullivan, a board member since last November, who has bought Anglo shares on three occasions in the past fortnight, shelling out more than €646,000 in the process.

The most recent board appointee, PR specialist Fintan Drury, became an Anglo director at the end of May but already he has purchased 10,000 shares at a total cost of more than €64,000.

Meanwhile, two other members of the bank's high-powered board have been in the news of late. The bank's non-executive chairman, Mr Tony O'Brien, is gearing up for the flotation of his company, C&C, from which he stands to make up to €8.8 million.

Another non-executive director, Mr Michael Jacob, is involved with the consortium reported to be considering a bid for Gresham Group.

A busy time for one and all.