The Board of Waterford Wedgwood plc has announced the appointment of Tony O'Reilly, Jr. as deputy chief executive of Wedgwood, effective January 1, 2001. In his new role, he will report to Wedgwood Chief Executive Brian Patterson. Tony O'Reilly, Jr. has been a non- executive main board director of Waterford Wedgwood since 1998. He is a member of the Group Task Force which has advised the Rosenthal business over the last two years, and which, among other achievements, prompted the recent acquisition of the Hutschenreuther brand. Since 1996 he has been chief executive of Arcon Plc. It was recently announced that he has been appointed chairman of Arcon, and will become non-executive chairman when he takes up his Wedgwood executive role in January 2001. He is a director of Independent News and Media Plc, Lockwood Financial Group, Providence Resources Plc and Internet financial services group E-MAT.