The repercussions of the increasingly bitter dispute at Irish Continental Group are being felt at a number of other Irish companies, which are seeking to distance themselves from what is happening at the ferry company.

ICG's board of directors includes senior figures from the Republic's two biggest banks, AIB and Bank of Ireland. Last night there was speculation that at least one of them was considering his role at the company.

Peter Crowley, who is the chief executive of Bank of Ireland's IBI Corporate Finance, is the senior non-executive director on the ICG board. He is also a director of Sigma Wireless Communications and of the Dublin Theatre Festival.

Mr Crowley would not comment on this speculation or on any aspect of the company yesterday. A spokesman for Bank of Ireland would not comment on ICG, but said Mr Crowley was not acting as the bank's representative at the ferry company.

Earlier this week, Bank of Ireland's chief economist, Dr Dan McLaughlin, clarified his position following controversy over comments he made on television in relation to the industrial dispute. In a statement, he said the views he had expressed were his own and were "not intended to be conveyed as the position of the Bank of Ireland".

AIB's most senior non-executive director, John McGuckian, has been ICG chairman since 1988 and the bank is one of the company's biggest shareholders, with an 11 per cent holding. The bank said it was unable to contact him yesterday.

The other non-executive director is Bernard Somers, who joined the company in 2004.

He is a director of a number of public companies including Independent News & Media, Ardagh and DCC.