IDA appoints Michael Lohan as new CEO

Michael Lohan has been appointed as CEO of IDA Ireland

Caoimhe Gordon

IDA Ireland has appointed Michael Lohan as the new chief executive of the state agency.

The incoming CEO is currently global head of life sciences at the IDA and also leads the talent transformation and innovation departments.

He has been a member of the executive leadership team since 2017.

Mr Lohan will take up the new role on April 17.

He is set to replace Martin Shanahan, who announced he would step down from the job last October after an eight-year term.

Before joining the IDA in 2003, Mr Lohan held a number of positions in the private sector, including roles with Nortel’s European operations in Galway and IEC Electronics.

He was formerly a design engineer at Longford Architectural Metalwork.

A qualified electronic engineer, Mr Lohan also holds a master’s degree in technology management from the University of Galway.

The IDA supports jobs growth in Ireland by attracting and retaining foreign direct investment to the country.

There are now 300,000 people working for around 1,800 foreign companies based in Ireland, according to the state organisation.

Jobs in IDA client companies rose by 9pc to over 301,000 in 2022, representing a net gain of 24,019 jobs across the year.

This reflects a 43pc rise from 2021 levels, with the highest proportion of new jobs added in the business, financial services and ICT sectors here.

Interim chief executive Mary Buckley will continue in the job until April 16 and will then return to her role as executive director.

“Michael Lohan was selected from a strong field of candidates, both internal and external, following a rigorous recruitment process,” chairman Frank Ryan said.

“He will continue to lead IDA in the attraction of foreign direct investment to Ireland and the winning of investments for regional locations,” he added.

Just over half of all new investment last year went to regions outside of Dublin, the agency reported last year.