AIB, Bank of Ireland and CRH also feature on the list again this year, and all three have improved their rankings, thanks in large part to the fall from favour of technology and telecom stocks.

Elan's woes and the move to take Smurfit private have reduced the number of Irish companies that rank on the global stage.

But those for whom size matters will be reassured to see two other Irish companies now appearing on international radars.

Ryanair and Irish Life & Permanent made it onto BusinessWeek's Global 1000 list of the world's most valuable companies for the first time. The low-cost airline was ranked 944th on the list, followed immediately by the former building society.

Flight to quality is the dominant theme of the list, which ranks companies in 23 countries by market capitalisation on May 31st.

Bank of Ireland overtakes AIB to become the highest-ranked Irish firm on the list, moving up to 335th spot from its 2001 ranking of 500. AIB follows a little behind, in 359th place, again an improvement on its 2001 ranking of 495.

CRH features further down in the pecking order, in 482nd place but ahead of last year's listing in 535th spot.