If the Christian Brothers in Kells, Co Meath, had hopes for young Matt Barrett when he completed his education with them in the early 1960s, they can hardly have anticipated just how high his star would soar.
And yesterday there came an indication that Mr Barrett, now 54, has not stopped adding to his CV: in October, he will become chief executive of Barclays Bank, with a package worth up to £6 million a year, plus share options worth double that.
The Government cannot be happy with this situation, but made it clear last night that life must go on. Mr Barrett was chairman of the State board overseeing the merger and prospective flotation of ACC/TSB, but even the relatively remote chance of a conflict of interest made holding both jobs impossible. The Minister for Finance, Mr McCreevy, has now replaced him with the former managing director of NCB Stockbrokers, Mr Padraic O'Connor.
Mr Barrett first rose to prominence in 1987, when he became president and chief operating officer of the Bank of Montreal. That was after spending 25 years at the company, starting as a trainee at its London branch and transferring to Montreal in 1967. He became chief executive of the bank in 1989.
With Mr Barrett at the helm, the bank became a lot bigger, and a lot more profitable. Back then, 25 per cent of the company's profits were generated outside the home market; that figure now stands at 50 per cent.
Mr Barrett was nothing if not innovative. In 1996, for example, he launched the first Internet bank in North America.
Most of all, he lavished attention on his own staff. He set up committees to stamp out discrimination against women, minorities and the disabled.
In 1994, he was made an Officer of the Order of Canada, the country's highest civilian honour, and he was named "Outstanding CEO of the Year" in 1995.
His flamboyant style caught the eye of many, including Ms AnneMarie Sten, the glamorous former cover-girl. When the pair married in 1997, the gossip columnists went into overdrive. Mr Barrett, described as "Toronto's most eligible bachelor", had been "snagged . . . by the former squeeze of Saudi billionaire arms dealer Adnan Khashoggi", said the Toronto Sun.
Mr Barrett said then that he wasn't happy with the attention, but he turned his thoughts to another wedding, an audacious plan to marry the Bank of Montreal and the Royal Bank of Canada. Last December, this merger was turned down by Canada's finance minister. Mr Barrett was furious and resigned as chief executive of the bank.
If he was bored between then and when he took the Barclays job yesterday, it wasn't because he couldn't afford to travel - his pay package at the bank had reached the equivalent of £2.2 million a year.
At Barclays, things are more generous. Mr Barrett will receive stg £2.5 million a year as well as a 100 per cent performance-related bonus from the end of the first year and share options worth four times his salary.
Oh, and next year, his pension from the Bank of Montreal kicks in at £600,000 a year.