MINISTER FOR Finance Brian Lenihan has appointed his special economic adviser Dr Alan Ahearne to a €15,000-a-year post on the board of the Central Bank.
On his last full day in Government, Mr Lenihan announced the appointment of Dr Ahearne to the Central Bank Commission, saying he was “exceptionally well qualified” to serve in the post. The appointment is for a period of four years.
One of the State’s best-known economists, Mr Ahearne has served as the Minister’s special adviser since March 2009. His advice has shaped the Government response to the economic and fiscal crisis over three budgets, the creation of Nama and the drawing up of the National Recovery Plan.
Having been on secondment from NUI Galway while advising the Minister, he returned only yesterday to his post as lecturer in economics at the JE Cairnes School of Business and Economics in the college.
Before working for Mr Lenihan, he was one of the first economists in the State to warn that the property bubble would crash, with devastating consequences for the economy.
Last May, he said Ireland was in the ultimate stage of the resolution of its economic problems.
Dr Aherne also holds an appointment as a non-resident fellow at Bruegel, an influential Brussels-based economics think tank, and is a research associate at the Institute for International Integration Studies at Trinity College Dublin.
He joined the staff of NUI Galway in 2005 and before that he worked for the Federal Reserve Board in Washington DC. He has taught economics at Carnegie Mellon University, University College Dublin, Dublin City University and the University of Limerick.
