Former ESB International (ESBI) executive and IWP second-in-command, Mr Bernard Byrne, is set to return to a management role at the State company.
The ESB announced yesterday that it had appointed Mr Byrne as group finance director. He has been a non-executive board member since July 2001, a position he will resign before he takes up his new job early next month.
Mr Byrne resigned from his last post, finance director and deputy chief executive with IWP plc, in late September after leading a failed management buyout.
IWP chairman and 16 per cent stakeholder Mr Joe Moran, who was then chief executive of the troubled household care and cosmetic products group, led the opposition to Mr Byrne's 44 cent-a-share bid. He stepped down within days of its rejection.
Mr Byrne previously worked with PricewaterhouseCoopers before joining ESBI in 1994. There he worked as financial controller and then manager of its asset and project management division. This is involved in the ownership and management of power-generation facilities in a number of different countries. He left ESBI in 1998.
He will succeed outgoing ESB group finance director Mr Tony Donnelly, who was recently appointed deputy chief executive.
ESB chief executive Mr Padraig McManus welcomed Mr Byrne's appointment, saying his business and financial experience would be extremely valuable. The State company's chairman, Mr Tadhg O'Donoghue, said he was confident Mr Byrne's appointment would be very beneficial to the electricity supplier.
