Fallout: Mr Tom Mulcahy has stepped down from his €26,000 a year role as a non-executive director of building materials group Kingspan but Mr Gerry Scanlan is to remain on the board of fruit distributor Fyffes.

The two men, both former chief executives of AIB, were among those named at the weekend as having "tax issues" related to investment schemes run by the bank.

Mr Mulcahy's decision to step down from Kingspan follows his resignation as chairman of Aer Lingus on Saturday.

Kingspan, which appointed Mr Mulcahy to its board on May 30th last year, issued a simple two-line statement yesterday, announcing his resignation with immediate effect but gave no reason for it.

Mr Mulcahy said he was stepping down as chairman of Aer Lingus because of the adverse publicity the issue has drawn on the State airline.

His appointment to Kingspan last year was seen as a move to strengthen the board and corporate governance at the Cavan-based company and was widely welcomed in the market.

Meanwhile, Mr Scanlan will remain on the Fyffes board despite the fact that he was an investor in an offshore company established by the bank's investment management arm that the financial regulator is now investigating.

At Fyffes' annual meeting yesterday, one shareholder asked the company's chairman, Mr Carl McCann, if Mr Scanlan intended resigning or if the board would ask him to resign. Responding, Mr McCann said that Mr Scanlan "has been, and continues to be, a good director of Fyffes".

Mr Scanlan did not attend yesterday's meeting as the chairman said his presence could distract attention from the business of the meeting.