Members of the Irish Nationwide Building Society will today submit resolutions to the company calling for its conversion to a public company and expressing no confidence in chief executive, Mr Michael Fingleton.

The group of disgruntled members, headed by Mr Shane Hogan, is calling for the motions to be included on the agenda of the society's next annual meeting where members can cast their vote.

Irish Nationwide customers who own share accounts or who have a mortgage are members of the society and are entitled to vote.

Some 150 members have signed the first resolution which calls for the society to be demutualised and for a due dilligence examination of its books to be prepared.

A demutualisation - where Irish Nationwide would switch from a society owned by its members to a publicly quoted company - should yield free shares for members.

The society has favoured demutualising but has been hampered by its very small size and, in more recent times, by turbulent stock market conditions.

Under building society legislation, it is also protected from being taken over for five years after conversion, something which Mr Fingleton has been lobbying to have abolished.

Up to 135 members have also signed the other resolutions which include a vote of no confidence in Mr Fingleton, a demand for the elimination and refund of penalty fines to customers and improved treatment of borrowers.

Under the society's rules, these resolutions will have to be tabled at the next a.g.m. which should be in April 2003.

The group is also seeking to have one of its members appointed to the board.

The building society moved at last year's annual meeting to ease member's disquiet by promising more transparency in the way it conducts its mortgage business and by crediting payments monthly rather than annually.