DUBLIN-BASED stockbroker Merrion Capital has appointed four non-executive directors to the board of the company.

Paul Gould, managing director of Allen Co, a New York investment bank and shareholder in the Irish stockbroker, has been appointed as chairman of Merrion and Newtide Acquisitions, the entity that took control of Merrion last year.

Fellow American Walter O’Hara, an executive vice-president at Allen, also joins as a director.

Mr O’Hara is also a member of the Ireland-American Economic Advisory Board and the private committee of the National Treasury Management Agency.

The Americans are joined on the board by Kevin Melia, who is a former chairman of Iona Technologies in Ireland.

Kevin Gallacher has also joined the Merrion board. Mr Gallacher founded UK investment firm Midmar Capital in February 2010. He was joint managing director of Merrion Investment Managers from 2005 to 2009.

This brings the number of directors on the boards of Merrion and Newtide to seven.

The quartet join chief executive John Conroy, head of stockbroking Shane Nolan, and Joe O’Dwyer, managing director of Merrion Investment Managers.

The appointments satisfy the requirements of the financial regulator regarding independent directors.

Speaking to The Irish Timesyesterday, Mr Conroy said the appointment of Mr Gould and Mr O'Hara reflected the "renewed commitment" of Allen Co to Merrion.

The US group was an early backer of Merrion when it was founded in 1999 and made a healthy return on its investment when the business was sold to Iceland’s Landsbanki.

It returned to Irish ownership in 2008 before Mr Conroy led a buyout last year by Newtide.

This has resulted in the stockbroker being restructured. It now employs about 65 staff compared to more than 100 previously.

“Stockbroking isn’t what it was,” Mr Conroy said. “We’ve got a lean business but a quality business and we’re well placed in the current economic climate. We hope it will be a profitable year for the company.”