Mr Kieran McGowan who retires as chief executive of IDA Ireland at the end of this month, has been appointed to the board of Elan Corporation, the Athlone-based pharmaceutical company. He has been chief executive of IDA Ireland since 1990. Since his retirement was announced he has joined the board of another publicly quoted company, CRH, and been named to the board of the soon-to-be-merged Irish Life & Permanent. Mr McGowan (55) is also a director of the Irish Management Institute and the National Lottery.