Onwards and upwards could perhaps be the motto of Michael Tutty, as he cycles through the mountains every Saturday morning.

The man in the Department of Finance responsible for the last six budgets displays the same focus and determination in work as he does negotiating 70 undulating miles on a weekend, according to those who have worked with him.

As he finalised the detail of the latest Budget, the second secretary general of the budget division said he was looking forward to tomorrow's trip through the Wicklow Gap. The budget job, he says, is very different now to the old days. The main change, he adds, is of course that the Exchequer now has surpluses of income over spending. "That makes it a nicer task but it does not make it any easier as people's expectations are so high," he says.

Sources say, however, that Mr Tutty found it easier in many ways in 1987 when the job was to look after any available money rather than give it away.

But that is, he says, his job. "The job of the Department of Finance is to curb enthusiasm just like your bank manager."

Indeed, that is how others also see him. The man who is one of the candidates to be the next secretary general of the Department of Finance when the current incumbent Mr Paddy Mullarkey retires in February is variously described as aloof and demanding. But those who know him better point to an ironic sense of humour, honesty and coolness as his main traits.

"A hard man to get to know but worth it," one source said.

Born and brought up just a couple of hundred metres from the Taoiseach Bertie Ahern in Drumcondra in Dublin, Mr Tutty attended national school just across the road from his home at St Patrick's. A very keen hurler he still spends most Sundays in the season in Croke Park.

At that time his parents kept lodgers to help support their son and two daughters. He later went to St Stanislaus Kostka College in Clontarf. Although named after a Jesuit saint it was run by a lay man.

Fellow pupils say that even then he was serious, focused and never the class joker. "A very hard worker who studied and played football. He was the guy who turned out on the pitch first with the shiniest boots and was most determined."

He was a keen tennis player and was on the school soccer team as well as a junior Dublin hurler. He still plays tennis at Fitzwilliam in Dublin.

None has memories of a lighter side or seeing him at the dance halls or simply hanging around.

"He was always a fresh air freak who was very conservative," says one former schoolmate. "He is straight out of Yes Minister, a real Sir Humprhey kind of guy. But what he lacks in imagination he makes up in terms of probity and accountability."

Other schoolmates who included TCD's Mr Sean Barrett and UCD historian Mr Dermot Keogh, say he was the brightest in a bright class. He always had a flair for "commerce" but had an interest in Irish and later French.

Others speak of him as a "re al civil servant" and very detail orientated. "He sees his job as looking after the detail."

But he also sees the big picture. Those who have gone in to negotiate with him say he can see the implications behind proposals very quickly.

"He is deeply intelligent but his communication is very low key," one associate said.

That is perhaps the key to his openness. Junior members of his team are allowed to talk quite openly and indeed Mr Tutty himself talks widely without looking over his shoulder, although sources say there is a very definite line he will not cross when it comes to matters of Government.

But when out of his job at the Department and attending the Institute of European Affairs, the National Economic and Social Council or meeting the Statistical Society, colleagues say he contributes more forcefully and is sometimes willing to really argue a point. However, his interjections are almost never recorded.

"He does not like to see his thoughts down on paper," one colleague noted.

Others said you "do not hear him passionately pursuing things but at the same time you get the impression that he has a very clear vision of where the Department's role is and where the macro economy should be going.

"He fulfils the role of being in the background rather than being the person or institution that emerges with radical proposals."

Others say that Mr Tutty does not particularly like politicians, although he does get on well with his Minister. "He is absolutely loyal but not at all close to politicians other than working at his job," one source noted.

According to the man himself: "They are all very different and very interesting people. We have to adapt our ways to theirs. They are all very different in the way they want things done."

Others say he is very politically aware both in Europe where he spent a good deal of time as assistant secretary in the finance division with responsibility for co-ordinating all EU matters in the Department and at home.

He is willing to argue his corner with a Minister if he feels strongly. Two budgets ago as Minister for Finance, Mr McCreevy, planned to halve the level of capital gains tax. The entire Department was against the idea and a delegation led by Mt Tutty went one after the other to the Minister's offices arguing against the tax cut until late into the night.

The other area where he has spent a good deal of time is on the Strategic Management Initiative. He was among one of the first group of senior civil servants to visit Australia and New Zealand. Mr Tutty was also one of the first group of assistant secretaries who volunteered for an MSc in strategic management in 1993.

Mr Brendan Tuohy who is now secretary general at the Department of Public Enterprise was one of his classmates as was Mr Phil Furlong who has just been appointed secretary general at Arts, Culture and the Islands.

However, insiders say that being very conservative, one of his faults may be that he is almost too pro the public service and not reform-minded enough. Certainly, in New Zealand he questioned the reform more than others, they note. But others insist that if given the opportunity Mr Tutty would prove more of a reformer than many would currently suspect.

A confirmed bachelor Mr Tutty still lives in his parents home on the Drumcondra Road and as a result is often compared with former secretary general Mr Sean Cromien. However, there are marked differences. According to Mr Tutty, Mr Cromien was a teetotaller which he is not and a birdwatcher and swimmer, neither of which activities take up his time.

Indeed, Mr Tutty stands a few rounds every Friday evening in the Department's watering hole, Reillys. He is close to other colleagues, cycling every weekend with another Department of Finance civil servant as well as two from other departments.

Sources say he is tough and demanding but good to work for as he is clear about what he wants and is willing to delegate responsibility, even to quite junior members of the team.

He enjoys good wine and occasionally cooks for a close circle of friends as well as having dinner with his one sister who remains in Dublin. But as one source said, he is the type who puts the cork back in the bottle.