Former MEP Eoin Ryan tipped to get bank post

FORMER FIANNA Fáil MEP Eoin Ryan is widely expected to be nominated to the board of the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) in London, according to senior political sources.

The three-year position has previously been held by former leader of the Progressive Democrats Des O’Malley. The post now commands a salary of up to €131,000.

The EBRD began work in 1991 to finance developments in the former Soviet bloc and now operates in 29 countries. It is operated by the European Investment Bank, the European Community and 61 countries, including Ireland.

Mr Ryan, who lost his European Parliament seat in the June 2009 elections, last night insisted he had not been nominated.

“I haven’t been told that I’m getting that job or any other job,” he said.

However, well-placed official sources indicated an announcement was imminent. The Government may make the announcement of its nominee along with that of its nominee to the European Court of Auditors in Luxembourg, a position recently vacated by Ireland’s European commissioner Máire Geoghegan-Quinn.

There is growing speculation in political circles that a Green Party figure will fill this post, with party chairman Senator Dan Boyle’s name to the forefront. Mr Boyle said he had not been approached about the position and was happy in his current role.

Minister for Finance Brian Lenihan is listed as a governor of the EBRD and he will put forward a nominee to represent Ireland. His spokesman last night said no appointment had been made to the bank.

Ireland continues to share a board directorship with Denmark.

The current alternate director, Anne Counihan, was appointed in January 2007 when Taoiseach Brian Cowen was minister for finance.

Her term will end in mid-February. She was previously chief executive of the National Development Finance Agency (NDFA) and a director of the National Treasury Management Agency (NTMA).

According to a spokeswoman for the EBRD, directors earn €131,353 and alternate directors €109,023. The two positions are rotated between Ireland and Denmark and it is as yet unclear which position Mr Ryan is likely to take up initially. Ms Counihan succeeded Mr O’Malley.

Her selection marked a return to the original policy on EBRD appointments, where civil servants were seconded from the Department of Finance. Former Fianna Fáil senator Brian Hillery also held the position until 1997.

Mr Ryan was former minister of state for local development with special responsibility for the national drugs strategy between 2000 and 2002 and became an MEP in 2004.

His father, Eoin Ryan, was a senator for over 30 years and his grandfather, Dr James Ryan, was a founding member of Fianna Fáil.