EBS has appointed Fergus Murphy chief executive of the building society - a month after he joined Shelbourne Development, the property firm owned by his friend Garrett Kelleher.

Mr Murphy, who was chief executive of ACC Bank before moving to Shelbourne, decided to leave his post as president of the property firm's international division for personal reasons because he was unable to undertake the travel required in the job.

He will take over at EBS in January. The job comes with a remuneration package of about €760,000 a year.

One of Mr Murphy's first tasks at EBS will be to set up the building society's subsidiary, Haven, which will sell mortgages through brokers. In the longer term, he will have to maintain the society's status as a mutual. The board of the EBS has stated that it intends to remain a mutual, though its status might come under pressure as banks eye up the building society's deposit base and mortgage book.

Mr Murphy was EBS's favoured candidate, but he accepted the job at Shelbourne while still in talks with it. His role at Shelbourne involved growing the firm in the US and Europe.

In a statement, he said: "The EBS brand has great potential in the financial services market in Ireland and I look forward to working with everyone in EBS to fulfil that potential. The future for EBS is about delivering innovative financial solutions for members in a way which rewards their loyalty."

In a separate statement, Shelbourne's Chris O'Connell said: "Fergus has informed us that, for personal reasons, he is unable to travel internationally for the foreseeable future and therefore he is not in a position to fulfil his role...

"Fergus Murphy and Garrett Kelleher are personal friends for over 25 years and had looked forward to the opportunity of working together on Shelbourne's extensive international portfolio. We are sorry that this now cannot be, and we all wish him well in this career at EBS."

Before becoming chief executive of ACC in April, Mr Murphy (43) was based in Singapore as head of the Asia region for ACC's parent company, Rabobank.

EBS chairman Mark Moran, who has been running the society since former chief executive Ted McGovern stepped down in September, said Mr Murphy was "a highly respected figure in the Irish financial services sector, with a wealth of national and international experience".