Fifty-eight-year-old Dubliner, Mr Pat McDowell, is in line to be the most senior executive from the Irish side in a merged Bank of Ireland and Alliance & Leicester. He is the bank's deputy chief executive working closely with group chief executive, Mr Maurice Keane, and is set to hold the same position in the merged bank.
His background is in information technology. He began his career at CIE and was the project manager for the introduction of computerisation at the State-owned transport group. Three years later he moved to Britain, working there as a systems analyst, but moved back to Dublin in 1970 to begin a career at Bank of Ireland.
He took responsibility for the development of the first computerised systems at the bank. After a number of years he secured a broader brief which incorporated more general management responsibilities.
Mr McDowell played an increasing role in the bank's human resources department with much of his time taken up in managing the industrial unrest throughout the bank. During his tenure, he had to deal with a number of acrimonious bank strikes. An affable person, his demeanour was said to have been crucial in brokering resolutions at that time. Within the bank he is regarded as a strong team builder.
In 1991, he took a major step upwards, moving to take over responsibility for the bank's retail division, filling the role vacated by Mr Pat Molloy when he became group chief executive. Bank of Ireland's retail operations are the largest and most diverse within the group.
During his time there, the bank established its Lifetime insurance subsidiary. The retail division also incorporates the credit card operations, business lending, technology and human resources.
As head of retail banking, Mr McDowell, oversaw an increased in profits from £110 million (€139 million) to £252 million. He was appointed to the court of directors in 1994. When Mr Molloy retired as chief executive last year, Mr Keane was appointed in his position and Mr McDowell was in turn appointed deputy chief executive.
Married to Pauline, they have four children and six grandchildren. Outside of banking, he is a keen golfer and has a house at the Galway Bay Golf Club. He also plays squash and enjoys fishing.
