There are 24 nominations in the shortlist for the Ernst & Young Entrepreneur Of The Year award. The event is organised in association with The Irish Times and RTÉ and supported by Enterprise Ireland and Shannon Development.

Nominees are divided into three categories: emerging entrepreneur of the year, industry entrepreneur of the year and international services entrepreneur of the year.Category winners will be announced at an awards ceremony in the Burlington hotel, Dublin, on September 25th.

The overall winner will be selected at the same event. He or she will go forward to represent Ireland at the World Entrepreneur Of The Year event which will be held in Monte Carlo next year.

This year's judging panel is entrepreneur and Esat founder Mr Denis O'Brien; last year's winner Mr Padraig O'Ceidigh, managing director, Aer Arann; Mr Pat Maher, director, Enterprise Ireland; Mr Maurice Pratt, managing director, Cantrell & Cochrane; Mr Brian McCarthy, managing director, FEXCO; Mr Kevin Thompstone, chief executive, Shannon Development; Ms Angela Kennedy, managing director, Megazyme International; and Mr Pat McDonagh, director, Riverdeep.