Who's who: board members

DENIS CASEY

Group chief executive (48)

Appointed chief executive in May 2007, three months before the global financial crisis began. A certified accountant, he joined Irish Life in 1980, having started his career in AIB. Appointed to the board in 2000. He ran Permanent TSB and Irish Life before becoming group chief executive.

BREFFNI BYRNE

Non-executive (62)

A chartered accountant, Byrne is chairman of NCB Stockbrokers. He was appointed to the board in July 2004. He is also a non-executive director of Coillte Teo, Tedcastle Holdings, Hikma, CPL Resources and a number of other companies. He was formerly a senior partner at Arthur Andersen in Ireland.

EAMONN HEFFERNAN

Non-executive (63)

Heffernan was appointed to the board in March 2003. An actuary, he was formerly a partner of Mercer Human Resource Consulting. He is past president of the Society of Actuaries in Ireland and a former chairman of the Pensions Board and of the Irish Association of Pension Funds.

ROY KEENAN

Non-executive (61)

He is a former chief executive of Bank of Ireland UK and former managing director of Bank of Ireland Life and Bank of Ireland Mortgages. He was appointed to the board in October 2006. He is a non-executive director of Met Life Europe and a former president of the Irish Insurance Federation.

LIAM O’REILLY

Non-executive (61)

A former chief executive of the financial regulator, O’Reilly is currently chairman of the Chartered Accountants Regulatory Board.

He was appointed to the board of ILP in September 2008. He is also a director of Merrill Lynch International Bank.

PETER FITZPATRICK

Executive (55)

He was appointed to the board of Irish Permanent (subsequently ILP) in 1992. He is a chartered accountant and was formerly a partner in Coopers Lybrand (now PricewaterhouseCoopers).

On Friday the board announced that it had accepted his resignation as group finance director.

FINBAR SHEEHAN

Non-executive (70)

Sheehan was appointed to the board in April 2001. He was formerly deputy chairman of TSB Bank. A chartered accountant, he was finance director and corporate affairs director of Jurys Doyle Hotel group.

GILLIAN BOWLER

Chairwoman of ILP (55)

Gillian Bowler was appointed as ILP chairwoman in May 2004, having joined the board in July 1998. She was the first woman to chair a publicly-quoted company. She is best known as the founder of Budget Travel. She is also a former chairwoman of Fáilte Ireland and is on the VHI board.

RAY MacSHARRY

Non-executive (70)

Ray MacSharry is a former EU commissioner, minister for finance, minister for agriculture and governor of the European Investment Bank.

He was appointed to the ILP board in December 2008 to represent the taxpayer under the Government’s guarantee scheme.

KEVIN MURPHY

Chief executive of Irish Life (56)

An actuary and an employee of Irish Life since 1972, he was appointed to the board following the merger of Irish Life and Irish Permanent in 1999. He is a director of a number of companies within the ILP group and is a member of the board of the Irish Stock Exchange.

MARGARET HAYES

Non-executive (54)

Hayes is a practising barrister and a former secretary general of the Departments of Tourism and Trade and of Community, Rural and Gaeltacht Affairs.

She was appointed by the Government to the ILP board last December, along with MacSharry, to promote the public interest.

DANUTA GRAY

Non-executive (49)

Gray was appointed to the board in August 2004. She is chief executive of O2 Ireland, chairwoman of Barretstown and a non-executive director of Aer Lingus.