Name: David Simpson

Age: 44

Family: Married to Catherine. They have four children ranging in age from 17 to six weeks.

Education: Educated by the Christian Brothers at Francis Street and Synge Street in Dublin. Studied commerce at UCD and later qualified as a chartered accountant.

Interests and hobbies: Main interest is soccer. Captained the UCD team and played for Shamrock Rovers and the Irish Universities team. Stopped playing three years ago and now coaches at school-level. Also a keen golfer and plays competitively.

Career: Joined Stokes Kennedy Crowley as a trainee accountant before establishing Simpson Xavier with Anthuan Xavier in 1982. The firm employs 300, with offices in Dublin, Limerick, Cork and Belfast, and this year expects to earn fee income of around £22 million.

Why is he in the news? He is president of the Institute of Chartered Accountants in Ireland.