OLIVER Tattan's elevation to chief executive of the Irish Trade Board is one of the most surprising semi-state appointments in years. When chairman Sean Murray told ITB executives and staff the 31-year-old company executive got the much sought after tap job, they were stunned.

For weeks names of many high profile candidates had been bandied about as front runners to succeed Alan McCarthy as chief executive when he retires in August. But in the final shake-down the job went to a complete outsider. A mystery man.

The fact that few people knew Oliver Tattan is hardly surprising though, as he has never worked in Ireland.

Unlike other appointees to semi-state companies he has not established any kind of a track record in the Irish business sector. And while nobody is questioning his suitability for the position, he is very much an unknown quantity.

From Cashel, Co Tipperary, Mr Tattan has spent all of his working career overseas.

A chemical engineer, he secured his first job in the gold mines of South Africa. After two years he headed to South America to work for a small consumer products company in Brazil and later joined the Brazilian subsidiary of the privately-owned German engineering company Hereaus.

In 1991, he transferred to Germany and is currently general manager of the company's sensor manufacturing subsidiary in Frankfurt. It employs 100 people.

In September his next move will be to ITB's headquarters in Dublin where he has been recruited to lead the drive to increase Irish exports.

As chief executive of the Trade Board, he will oversee the operation of 23 overseas offices and five regional offices in Ireland, which in total employ a staff of 255.

In a news departure Mr Tattan will be employed on a five-year contract with a significant part of his total pay package performance related. While the Trade Board has refused to disclose details of his contract, it is understood that the new chief executive could potentially earn well above the Gleeson guidelines which have been applied to previous incumbents.

His basic salary is estimated to be set at around £65,000, with potential to grow to as much as £100,000 a year on the achievement of specific export growth targets set by the Minister for Tourism and Trade, Mr Kenny.

Talking about his new appointment this week, Mr Tattan says his contract sets three challenges - to achieve substantial growth in Irish exports, to develop a long-term strategic plan for the semi-state body and to improve the efficiency of the organisation.

"The main target to be met is to grow Irish exports and to build on the Irish Trade Board's great record," he says. Mr Tattan says his main priority is to help Irish companies gain a greater share of continental European markets and to make them independent of the British market.

"I am hoping to work with Forbairt on building up certain segments of the market, concentrating on areas where Ireland is particularly competitive."

Speaking German, French and Portuguese, his language skills were obviously an asset when applying for the job which will involve leading trade missions to major international markets.

Talking about the experience he brings to the job, Mr Tattan says he currently oversees all aspects of the engineering business, including marketing of its products and dealing with its customer base, "The company has undergone a complete turnaround in the last few years. In a fast moving market we have had to develop new markets and new products," he says.

These skills he believes will ensure he can respond to Minister Kenny's calls for a total revamp of the organisation. The Minister has publicly said that the new chief executive will be able to make "widespread changes" in the way the Trade Board operates.

ITB is one of three Government agencies co-ordinated by Forfas, the umbrella body for industrial development. The board is charged with assisting Irish companies to increase their share of overseas markets and to significantly boost the overall level of exports.

In recent times the board has come in for strong criticism from the Irish Exporters' Association which has accused it of failing to carve out a niche for itself. The IEA has also claimed the agency's services are expensive and have questioned its commitment to lobbying the Government on behalf of exporters on issues such as the exchange rate.

The decision to bring in someone from the private sector to lead the Trade Board has political implications. The political commitment to attract high calibre candidates produced a performance related contract designed to offer a higher remuneration potential than that traditionally available within the semi-state sector.

In its quest to recruit a new chief executive, the Trade Board is known to have approached a number of senior business figures working in Irish and overseas companies to apply for the job. Some of the organisation's own senior management also expressed a strong interest in the position.

Mr Tattan believes he was successful because ITB wanted "a young chap from the private sector with international experience". He says he first made contact with the organisation by replying to its advertisement for a new chief executive. "The job seemed very attractive," he says.

As staff at the ITB anxiously await his arrival, most can hardly conceal their surprise that the top job has gone to someone so young.

At 31 years of age, Tattan is by far the youngest chief executive to be appointed to a semi-state company and is probably younger than over half of his staff.

While described as an "over-achiever" and "extremely bright" in school, business sources commenting on the appointment this week say the board has shown great faith in backing him.