Mr Kieran McGowan, the head of IDA Ireland since 1990, is to step down at the end of his contract in December, the agency said yesterday. Mr McGowan, who has been with the IDA for 32 years, became executive director, then managing director in 1990, and chief executive of the re-vamped IDA Ireland in 1994, said he wanted to take up new career opportunities.
The IDA's chairman, Mr Denis Hanrahan, said the board deeply regretted Mr McGowan's decision to stand down, but added that he understood it from a personal point of view.
"We wish him well - and there is no hidden agenda, no mystery row!" Mr Hanrahan added.
Mr McGowan's stewardship of the IDA saw the most remarkable growth in employment since the foundation of the State. From 1990 until the end of 1997, the agency sponsored some 90,000 jobs. It also doubled its annual job creation levels in overseas companies and halved the cost per job to the Exchequer.
Mr McGowan said it had been a difficult decision but he felt he was leaving the IDA in good shape with its senior management "more sharply focused and committed than ever". He said he was confident that there would be "very worthy and capable" candidates for the chief executive's position within the organisation.
The front-runners within the IDA for the position include Mr Martin Cronin, Mr John Lloyd and Mr Frank Ryan. Under the Government's latest pay guidelines, the job carries an annual salary of £87,000, plus a performance-related bonus of up to 15 per cent.
