Merrion Stockbrokers has appointed Liam Boggan as its new head of research.

Mr Boggan replaces Rory Gillen, who has moved on to manage a Merrion fund and to launch a series of investment seminars. Mr Gillen is one of the founders of Merrion.

Mr Boggan joins the stockbroking firm from ABN Amro. For the past two years, he has worked for ABN between Dublin and London in a pan-European role that gave him responsibility for a number of the Dutch bank's institutional accounts in the UK.

He has been with ABN since 1994, when he moved to London to work for the bank's pan-European equity team.

He came back to Dublin in the late 1990s and became head of sales for ABN's Irish stockbroking operation.

Before joining ABN, Mr Boggan had worked as a fund manager in Dublin with Montgomery Govett.

Merrion chief executive, John Conroy, yesterday welcomed Mr Boggan to the group and paid tribute to the quality of his experience to date.

He said the appointment would "bring new impetus" to Merrion's research effort and pointed to the strong relationships Mr Boggan has developed with both domestic and international clients.

Mr Boggan is a native of Dublin. He is married with three children.