Name: Dr Patrick Haren
Born: 1950 in Wolverhampton, but grew up in Co Fermanagh from where both his parents come.
Education: St Michael's College, Enniskillen. Queen's University, Belfast.
Career: After working for the old Northern Ireland Electricity Board and ESB in Dublin, he completed a PhD at Queen's and returned to ESB where he held several senior positions including director. Research fellow at CERN (European centre for nuclear research in Geneva). NIE chief executive since 1992 - steered company through privatisation; Viridian chief executive since March 1998. Member of "Strategy 2010" (Northern Ireland economic strategy steering group).
Family: His wife Anne is also from Fermanagh. Two grown-up sons. Jonathan (26) works in film editing in London. Stephen (18) has just finished his Alevels.
"From their mother they have inherited creative, artistic instincts which in my case are only latent."
Hobbies: "Nothing structured - so golf would have no appeal to me whatsoever." Outdoor sports - skiing in Switzerland, sailing, mountain-climbing; bird-watching. Foreign languages - Dr Haren is fluent in French and German and tries to keep up his language skills by doing Open University courses.
Why in the news: His company, Viridian, is going to be ESB's fiercest rival once the Republic's electricity market opens up to competition early next year.
