Bank of Ireland has won the Gold Investors in Diversity EDI Mark - the highest accreditation awarded by the Irish Centre for Diversity, the country's awarding body for equality, diversity and inclusion (EDI) accreditation.

The gold accreditation recognises the bank's actions, policies and processes to continuously improve EDI right across the organisation and at all levels.

It follows a bronze accreditation in 2020 and a silver in 2022 and shows the ongoing progress by the bank over the past three years.

To achieve the gold mark, organisations must conduct an in-depth assessment of EDI practices across key pillars including diverse and inclusive leadership, recruitment, retention and progression, and how impacts are recorded and monitored.

Bank of Ireland provided a range of evidence across these pillars, including the introduction of the Family Matters policy earlier this year, which support a wide range of family and individual circumstances.

The bank was also of the first in the sector to introduce menopause leave for colleagues experiencing menopause-related symptoms, with up to 10 days of paid leave available.

Bank of Ireland Group chief executive Myles O'Grady said that having a diverse and inclusive workplace is really important to the bank because it improves how it delivers its strategy, serves it customers and innovate for the future.

"Our ambition is to be one of the best places to work, with different talents, skills, backgrounds, and perspectives working together to make Bank of Ireland better and stronger for the future," the CEO said.

"It's also extremely important to us that our 10,000 colleagues reflect the diversity of our more than 4 million customer base, so that they can better understand their needs and serve them," he added.

Caroline Cummins, Managing Director of Irish Centre for Diversity, said the bank's suite of D&I initiatives includes progressive policies such as leveraging its reach across society for a partnership with HIV Ireland that is helping to break down barriers and address stigma; community partnerships with bodies such as Family Carers and more, and support for colleagues to drive the inclusion they want to see, including their "MyStory" Women of Colour platform, which is now being adopted by other companies.

"In addition, they have demonstrated that the Management team has embraced progressive values and leads by example," Ms Cummins added.