Profile: He may share the name of a best-selling American novelist but Mr Cormac McCarthy's rise to the top has been a story of quiet success rather than high adventure in the boardroom.

A qualified accountant, Mr McCarthy joined what was then First National building society a month before it floated on the Dublin and London stock markets as First Active plc in October 1998.

At that time he was the only member of the management team with any experience of working in a public company, having joined from Woodchester, part of the international conglomerate GE.

His initial function was as head of finance and in the immediate aftermath of the flotation it was his job to liaise with the investment community who had bought the shares.

The bank began to flounder in 1999, reporting a drop in profits and undergoing a slump in its share price - to the horror of the thousands of customers who had received free shares when First Active came to the markets.

Anglo Irish Bank made an opportunistic swoop on the ailing financial institution in 2000 but this deal quickly unravelled amidst a dispute about boardroom positions.

Mr McCarthy seems to have found himself in the right place at the right time and took over as chief executive in July, 2000. His appointment had an immediate impact on the company. He presided over the sale of its head office in Booterstown in south Dublin and centralised its operations at a new facility in Leopardstown.

Here he fostered a more sales-focused culture, introducing a high performance-related component to staff earnings.

The extent of his accomplishments were underlined earlier this year as First Active reported a 26 per cent rise in profits to €66 million, well ahead of market expectations.

The 40-year-old says he is a firm believer in the capital markets and believes that the accountability they bring forced First Active to make itself leaner and more competitive.

Mr McCarthy has also consistently stressed the responsibility of the board to deliver shareholder value. He has long indicated that he believed First Active should pursue an independent path rather than becoming part of a larger group.

In recent interviews, Mr McCarthy insisted that management was taking a long term view of the company's direction while just last month he told the Leinster Society of Chartered Accountants that staying free of outside influence was a viable strategy as First Active advanced.