Mr Liam Barron has been appointed as director general of the Central Bank, it was announced yesterday.

The appointment, which was approved by the Bank's board yesterday, will take effect from December 19th.

Mr Barron, who will succeed Dr Padraig McGowan, has been the deputy director of the Bank and secretary of the board since 1995. He was viewed as the front-runner to succeed Dr McGowan.

During his career in the Bank Mr Barron has held a wide variety of management positions. Most recently, he has been responsible for financial markets, payment and settlement systems and financial operations. He was formerly responsible for information technology and banking supervision.

Mr Barron is currently serving as the founding chairperson of the European Central Bank's Budget Committee, which reports directly to the Governing Council of the ECB. He has also represented the Central Bank on other ECB committees and on committees of the EU Commission and the Bank for International Settlements.

Mr Barron is from Co Waterford and was educated at CBS Dungarvan. He is a graduate of UCD and holds a first class honours Master's degree in business studies. The top job at the Central Bank - that of governor - is also due to change hands in the short term with the retirement next April of the incumbent, Mr Maurice O'Connell.