Search Begins for Irelands 10th Entrepreneur of the Year

22nd January 2007

Nominations are now being sought throughout the island of Ireland for finalists to participate in the 10th Ernst & Young Entrepreneur of the Year programme. The programme runs in more than 40 countries and celebrates those who are building and leading successful, growing, and dynamic business.

The 2007 Ernst & Young Entrepreneur of the Year Programme, sponsored by Ulster Bank, is built around the strategic value of Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR), an integral part of which is the Caribbean CEO Retreat. Here the 24 finalists, along with previous finalists, will engage in intensive classroom studies, facilitated by international leading CSR thinkers, followed by three days in Haiti sharing their skills and inspiring local people to establish small-scale business practice.

Commenting on the launch of this year's programme, Enda Kelly, Partner-in-Charge, Ernst & Young said, "The Entrepreneur of the Year programme is itself a manifestation of Corporate Social Responsibility. Acclaiming entrepreneurship is a key driver in establishing an enterprise in which business initiatives continues to strive. We consider encouraging entrepreneurial culture in Ireland to be very much a part of our corporate social responsibility."

"The Entrepreneur of the Year Awards ensure national and international recognition for Irish entrepreneurs and their companies, and helps to create valuable role models, who, in turn, foster enterprise in Ireland in the long term, he added. We look forward to welcoming the next 24 finalist to our 200 member community of Ireland's finest business minds".

Robert Gallagher, Chief Executive, Corporate Markets, Ulster Bank said; "Ulster Bank's involvement in the Ernst & Young Entrepreneur of the Year is one of the highlights of our calendar. We take pride in both recognising and rewarding the achievements of Ireland's entrepreneurial community. We know how important it is to foster, encourage and support this talent and our aim is to provide new and existing businesses with expert advice and the essential tools needed to be successful in the Irish, or indeed the international business arena."

Those entering the programme can either nominate themselves or be nominated. A nominee must be an owner/manager who is primarily responsible for the recent performance of a company that is at least two years old. Founders of public companies are eligible provided the founder is still active in top management. Entries can be made in one of three categories, Emerging, Industry and International with an overall winner to be announced at an Awards Ceremony in October.

Previous winners of this award include Anne Heraty, Managing Director, CPL, Aidan Heavey, Chief Executive, Tullow Oil, Dr Peter Fitzgerald, Managing Director, Randax Laboratories and Liam Shanahan, Managing Director, Shanahan Engineering and Denis O'Brien, Digicel and Chairman of the Judging Panel.

The Ernst & Young Entrepreneur of the Year is run in association with The Irish Times, RTE, Ulster Bank, Enterprise Ireland, InterTradeIreland, Invest Northern Ireland, The Ryan Academy for Entrepreneurship and Digicel.

A panel of judges, chaired by Mr. Denis O'Brien will select the shortlist and then overall winner. These include last year's winner, Anne Heraty of CPL, Dr. Peter Fitzgerald, Randox Laboratories (Winner 2004) Aidan Heavey, Tullow Oil plc (Winner 2005), Brian Long, Seer Partners (Technology Entrepreneur of the Year 2000) Pat Maher, Enterprise Ireland, Donal Durkan, Invest Northern Ireland, Pat McDonagh, Riverdeep (Master Entrepreneur of the Year 2000), Liam Nellis, InterTradeIreland, Padraig O'Ceidigh, Aer Arann (Winner 2002) and Liam Shanahan, (Winner 2003)

Closing date for nominations is Friday, 2nd March, 2007. For official forms contact Ernst & Young on 01 4750555 or visit www.eoy.ie