Twenty four Irish business people have been short-listed 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 in Monte Carlo next year.

The winner last year was Mr Padraig O'Ceidigh, managing director of Aer Arann.

Previous winners include Mr Denis O'Brien, Riverdance creators Moya Doherty and John McColgan, and motor racing magnate Mr Eddie Jordan.

The year's judging panel is: Mr O'Brien; Mr O'Ceidigh; 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, Riverdeep.

Mr Enda Kelly, partner, of the entrepreneur excellerator team, Ernst & Young, paid tribute to the nominees.

He said: "The talent, vision and passion exhibited by each of the short-listed nominees, in their respective businesses, is exceptional. Each of them, in their own way, serves as both inspiration and motivation to those considering becoming entrepreneurs and carry on the proud tradition of entrepreneurship in Ireland."

This year's nominees in the emerging entrepreneur category are: Mr Eugene McGinty, chief executive of Connect Global Solutions; Mr Ray Nolan and Mr Tom Kennedy, directors of Hostelworld.com; Mr Bobby O'Reilly, chief executive of Farm Media Group; Mr John O'Dea, general manager of Caradyne; Mr Martin McMahon, managing director of Vector Workplace; Mr John O'Sullivan, managing director of Aircoach; Ms Maria Mahon, chief executive, Irishjobs.ie; and Mr Conor Foley, managing director, Sports Spread.

The Industry Entrepreneur of the Year nominees are: Kieran Keenaghan, managing director, Banagher Concrete; Mr John Boyle, managing director, Boyle Sports, Mr Gerry McCaughey, chief executive, Century Homes; Mr Mel Bendon, managing director, Glenmar Shellfish; Mr Michael B. Lynch, managing director, Lynch Hotel Group; Mr James M. Sheehan, founder, Blackrock Clinic; Mr John Concannon, managing director, JFC Manufacturing; Ms Mary Ann O'Brien, managing director, Lily O'Briens.

The International Services Entrepreneur nominees are: Dr Joe McBreen, managing director, Connaught Electronics; Mr Jonny Parkes, managing director, Electric Paper; Mr Seán Melly, chief executive, e-Tel; Mr Gerard Barry, chief executive, Fintrax; Mr Michael O'Rourke and Mr Leonard Ryan, managing directors, Setanta Sports; Mr Liam Shanahan, managing director, Shanahan Engineering; Mr Peter Conlon, chief executive, Xsil; and Mr Michael Burke, managing director, Chanelle Group.