AIB Group has announced the appointment of Mr Donal Forde as managing director of AIB Bank Republic of Ireland.

Mr Forde (41) will take over the position from Mr Eugene Sheehy, who was appointed executive chairman of the Allfirst subsidiary in the US following the retirement of Mr Frank Bramble.

Mr Sheehy's appointment to Allfirst was announced last week as one of the actions undertaken by the group in response to the Ludwig report into the foreign exchange fraud at Allfirst which cost AIB some $691 million (€786 million).

Mr Forde, who was general manager of AIB Bank's strategic development unit, is from Newmarket, Co Cork. He joined AIB in September 1978 and worked in AIB Capital Markets. In 1995, he was appointed head of AIB Corporate and Commercial Treasury and became head of Treasury Services in 1998.

Since September 1999, he has been general manager of the strategic development unit, which was set up to initiate and co-ordinate strategic activities throughout the bank with a focus on the long-term health and positioning of the business.