Cantillon: ‘Buzzy’ times ahead for new Ulster Bank chief

Ulster Bank's new chief executive Gerry Mallon will be a busy man next June. That's when he takes up the reins at Ulster Bank's business in the Republic following his appointment yesterday by Royal Bank of Scotland.

As chairman of the Irish Football Association, he will also be busy preparing for Northern Ireland's appearance in the Uefa Euro 2016 finals.

"I hope that all the family will be in France from June 10th next year with the green and white army," Mallon told the Belfast Telegraph in an extensive interview in September.

The other green and white army will also be present, after the Republic’s play-off victory over Bosnia, and the squad could include as many as five players born in the North.

So there should be plenty of banter when Mallon takes up his duties in Dublin, having been chief executive of Danske Bank in the North since 2008.

The timing of the Bel Tel interview was itself interesting, given that he must have been well advanced in his negotiations to join Ulster Bank.

Mallon studied engineering in Cambridge before turning to economics. He initially chose a career as a civil servant before joining consultancy firm McKinsey, where he had stints in London, Dublin and Belfast, working up to 100 hours a week. He left in 2002 and spent four years with Bank of Ireland before joining Danske.

Mallon became Danske chief executive just weeks before Lehman Brothers collapsed and has overseen a major restructuring of its operation in the North, which is back in profit. He was put in charge of Danske's personal and business lines in the Republic in mid-2012 and was at the helm when the Danes decided to shut the business in October 2013.

Ulster Bank staff in the Republic will be hoping history doesn’t repeat itself on that score.

Mallon believes banking will become “increasingly fragmented” as technological innovations and new entrants chip away at the industry.

“Customers will find that technology will make their lives easier but the numbers employed in the sector will continue to decline,” he said in his September interview.

A “city boy at heart”, Mallon should enjoy living in Dublin.

"I need the buzz: the livelier the city, the better," he told the Bel Tel.

Mallon is also a diehard Liverpool fan, has a soft spot for rock group AC/DC and his favourite song is Song 2 by Blur. Woohoo!