The younger finalists in this year's Ernst & Young Entrepreneur of the Year competition will feature in a programme aired on RTÉ One tonight. Marketing, food production, computer games software and crane manufacturing are among the activities pursued by the "emerging entrepreneur" finalists in this year's competition.

Further programmes over the coming two weeks will feature finalists in the industry and international categories, with the winners in each category and the overall winner to be announced at a ceremony in Dublin on September 28th. The awards ceremony will also be broadcast.

The panel of 11 judges includes five former overall winners: Denis O'Brien (chairman), Aidan Heavey of Tullow Oil, Dr Peter Fitzgerald of Randox Laboratories, Brian Long of Seer Partners and Pat McDonagh of Riverdeep.

The 24 finalists in this year's competition were selected from a competitive pool of more than 150 entries.

The emerging entrepreneur finalists are: Dublin-based Aldagh McDonagh and Sandra Lawler of marketing business Alternatives, Steve Brankin of Co Antrim software consultancy Asidua, Colum O'Sullivan and Cullan Allen of Cork food production business Cully & Sully, Christopher Foley of Dublin-based integrated window solutions business Dansk Window Systems, Dylan Collins of Dublin computer games software business Demonware, Alan Scroope of Kerry software development business FreeFlow, Séamus McMenamin of Donegal crane manufacturers Masol Ireland, and Seán Gallagher, from Co Louth, whose Smarthomes business installs cables in new homes for telecoms and entertainment systems.