Some 24 Irish business people have been shortlisted for the Ernst & Young Entrepreneur of the Year Awards.
There are more than 115 entries from a wide range of business interests for this year's event which is organised in conjunction with Citibank, Enterprise Ireland, The Irish Times and RTE.
The awards will be presented by the Minister for Finance, Mr McCreevy, on September 13th at a gala reception in Dublin.
As part of the prize, the winner will be entered into the Ernst & Young World Entrepreneur of the Year Awards which will take place in Monte Carlo in May 2002.
The winner of the Irish competition last year, Mr Eddie Jordan, owner of the Jordan formula one motor racing team, went on at this year's world event to take the World Entrepreneur of the Year Award for global leadership.
Riverdance creators Mr John Colgan and Ms Moya Doherty were the winners of the Irish competition in 1999 and entrepreneur Mr Denis O'Brien received the accolade in 1998.
"We are confident that the winner of this year's award in Ireland will again go forward and make a major impact at the world event in Monte Carlo," said Mr Enda Kelly, Ernst & Young partner in charge of entrepreneurial services.
The Irish judging panel comprises Ms Gillian Bowler, president of the Institute of Directors; Mr Patrick Campbell, director Campbell Bewley Group; Mr Mark Ennis, group chief executive, Boxmore International; Mr Denis O'Brien, chairman; Mr Pat Maher, Enterprise Ireland; Mr Maurice Pratt, managing director, Tesco Ireland; and Ms Ann Shaw, chairman Northern Ireland Institute of Directors.
This year's shortlist is: Mr Declan Conway, Openet Technologies; Ms Sharon Kennedy, Eirco Web Services Ltd; Mr Martin McVicar, Combi Lift; Mr Kelly Murphy, Marrakech; Mr Robbie O'Brien, eHost Europe; Mr Enda O'Coineen, Kilcullen Kapital Partners; Mr Raomal Perera, Network 365; Mr Hugh Reynolds, Havok; Mr Sean Carty, Connect Electronics; Dr Edward Haughey, Norbrook Laboratories; Mr Mike Mills, Ulster Carpet Mills Group; Mr Pat McDonagh, Supermac Ireland; Mr Tom MacGuinness, Horseware Products; Mr John O'Loughlin, Qualceram Shires; Mr Brodie Sweeney, O'Briens Irish Sandwich Bars; Mr Paddy Woods, Nypro Ltd; Mr Galen Bates, Point Information Systems; Mr Anthony Bermingham, Lake Communications; Mr Garret Byrne, Interactive Services; Mr Peter Conlon, MV Technology; Mr Michael Kelly, FINEOS; Mr Bryan Maybury, Macalla Software; Mr Neil Wilson, Datalex; and Mr Liam Young, Conduit.
A brief biography of each of those on the shortlist is available at: www.eoy.ie
