Peter Sutherland - A former EU commissioner and attorney general, Sutherland is currently chairman of BP and Goldman Sachs International.
Gerry Murphy - Originally from Cork, he is currently chief executive of Kingfisher plc, which owns B&Q, the DIY group. He previously worked as chief executive of the British TV group Carlton and the transport group Exel.
Gerry Robinson - Has held a string of high-profile jobs in British business, including stints running Granada Television, Coca Cola UK and Grand Met's contract services division. He also chaired BSkyB and Allied Domecq. He is currently in a battle to take over as chairman of Rentokil plc.
Niall FitzGerald - Currently chairman of Reuters plc. He was previously chief executive of Unilever, one of the largest companies in Europe. He is a keen supporter of the euro and African trade.
Matt Barrett - Born in Co Kerry, he is a former group chief executive of Barclays Bank, now its chairman. Was also chief executive of the Bank of Montreal. He has Irish and Canadian citizenship.