New chairman for Irish Stock Exchange

Padraic O’Connor has been appointed as chairman of the Irish Stock Exchange at the annual general meeting of the Exchange held this morning in Dublin.

Padraic succeeds David Kingston, who has retired from the Board after nine years as chairman.

“David served as chairman of the Exchange during a period of enormous growth and development and his leadership was a significant factor in the successful evolution of the Exchange over the past nine years,” said O’Connor today.

“On behalf of all my colleagues on the board, I want to express our gratitude to him for almost a decade of service.”

O’Connor is a director of ACC Bank, Bear Stearns Bank Ltd and Quintillion Ltd. He is chairman of two AIM-listed companies [Alltracel plc and Adwalker plc] as well as Hewitt Associates (Ireland) and Jones Distribution plc, as well as a number of other businesses.

From 1999 to 2002, O’Connor was non-executive chairman of ACC Bank, where he oversaw the reorientation of the bank’s strategy and its sale to the Rabobank Group. From 1987 to 1999, he was managing director of NCB Group.

O’Connor said that he was looking forward to working with his colleagues on the board, together with incoming chief executive Deirdre Somers and her management team to ensure the continued success of the Exchange in the years ahead.