Mr Kyran McLaughlin (56) is one of the most powerful men in Irish stock-broking. He has been a key figure in Davy for many years and is a director and shareholder in the firm.

Within Davy he had specific responsibility for its corporate finance activities and has been involved in many of the biggest deals by Irish companies in recent years.

Davy specialises in the distribution of Irish equities and bonds and is estimated to account for up to 40 per cent of the day-to-day trading in each of these markets.

It acts as stockbroker to the majority of Ireland's publicly quoted companies. Its clients include Bank of Ireland, CRH, Esat Telecom, Fyffes, Independent News and Media and Smurfit.

Mr McLaughlin last came to public attention when the Dublin and London stock exchanges launched an inquiry into Davy's handling of the sale of Government-owned shares in Greencore. Mr McLaughlin headed the team which handled the sale.

The firm was to sell 25.4 million Greencore shares at 275p each to raise £70 million for the Exchequer. On the day the shares were to be sold, the Government was informed that the flotation had been a success although more than a quarter of the shares had not yet been sold.

When it ran into difficulties in selling the remaining shares, Mr McLaughlin, Davy chairman Mr Brian Davy, Davy chief executive Mr Tony Garry and Davy partner Mr David Shubotham purchased the shares, which were placed in companies associated with them. The firm was subsequently fined by the London Stock Exchange.

Mr McLaughlin, together with 11 other senior Davy executives, has a 10 per cent shareholding in the stock-broking firm. The remaining 90 per cent is held by Bank of Ireland. The bank bought its majority shareholding in 1998 for a reputed £20 million.

Outside of Davy, Mr McLaughlin and some of his follow directors have a number of private interests, with investments mainly in property vehicles.

Born in Dublin, Mr McLaughlin is a past pupil of Blackrock College. He is divorced from his wife Susan, with whom he had three children. He is currently in a second relationship and has a second family.

Davy was founded by Mr John and Mr Eugene Davy in the earlier part of the century and has maintained a dominant position within the stock-broking industry. It employs 240 people.