The former chairman of Anglo Irish Bank was taken in for questioning by Irish police on Thursday about alleged financial irregularities.

Sean FitzPatrick was arrested at his home in Greystones, County Wicklow, by the Fraud Investigation Squad on Thursday. His house was also searched.

Mr FitzPatrick resigned in December 2008 after admitting he had concealed millions of euros in personal loans from the Dublin-based bank.

In his admissions, Mr FitzPatrick revealed the extent of the hidden loans and the method of temporarily transferring them to another bank before the end of each year to avoid revealing them in the accounts.

Last year, Anglo reported the biggest loss in Irish corporate history when it made a loss of 4.1 billion euros in the six months to March.