Documents released to RTÉ News under the Freedom of Information Act show that out of a shortlist of five candidates, AIB chose one of its own executives to take the top job.
The other four contenders for the post of chief executive were from outside the country. The documents also show the level of close contact between the bank and the Department of Finance at the time.
Reckless lending pushed the banks to the brink, which resulted in record losses and huge injections of state money. The Government and the public demanded a clear-out of those at the top, leading to a hunt last year for a successor to AIB's Eugene Sheehy.
Documents released to RTÉ News show that AIB Chairman Dan O'Connor told the Department of Finance that a shortlist of five potential chief executives had been drawn up, four of which were external candidates. He also said that one banker from Australia was flying in for two days of interviews while two London-based candidates would be interviewed there.
One final candidate, described by Dan O'Connor as 'very strong', was flying in from the US.
AIB decided to appoint 'inside man', Colm Doherty, who was then head of the bank's Capital Markets division. The Government was unhappy with this choice and an announcement was held back.
Another email from AIB to the Finance Department said that Dan O'Connor and deputy chairman, David Pritchard, would meet Brian Lenihan in the Department on October 7 to discuss the new CEO.
They agreed a compromise solution to split the role of chief executive into an executive chairman and a managing director.
Another document reveals that one week before AIB publicly announced this a Department official suggested that AIB stress that Dan O'Connor would 'personally oversee the process of restructuring the management team and ensuring the external bias was delivered on'.
AIB today again defended its decision saying the recruitment process was exhaustive and independently assessed. The bank said that Colm Doherty was selected because he emerged as the best candidates.
However, the extent of the shortlist raises further questions as to why an outsider was not chosen as the Government had wanted.
