Bank of Ireland chief executive Michael Soden has quit his job after has was found to be using his office computer to surf Internet porn and escort agency Web sites.
Soden, 57, resigned from his EUR1.3 million a year job on Sunday. In a personal statement he said he took the decision for personal reasons, after admitting accessing Web sites forbidden under bank policy.
"The content accessed was not illegal but did contain links to material of an adult nature," says Soden. "I now accept that accessing this material was inappropriate and would cause embarrassment to Bank of Ireland."
Soden's illicit surfing is understood to have been discovered during routine maintenance of his PC by an IT staffer.
An internal investigation into Soden's activities was leaked to a local newspaper, forcing the bank to go public with the news.
Sites visited by Soden are believed to have included one advertising the services of an escort agency in Las Vegas, shortly before he was due to fly to the US on bank business.