The death has occurred of David Hough (58), chief executive of Limerick-based oil and gas exploration firm Circle Oil. One of the first Irish entrepreneurs to be involved in Irish oil exploration, Mr Hough died on Wednesday in Abu Dhabi.

A geology graduate, Mr Hough set up exploration firm Ivernia West in 1988. The firm, with oil giant Chevron, discovered zinc at Lisheen in Co Tipperary.

In 2003, Mr Hough set up Circle Oil with licences in Namibia, offshore from Panama in the Caribbean and in the Celtic Sea.

He was one of the few Irish mining entrepreneurs to find and bring into production an Irish metal mine in the 20th century.