Speculation is mounting in economic circles about the line-up of candidates to succeed Prof Patrick Honohan as governor of the Central Bank.

Minister for Finance Michael Noonan initiated a recruitment process last week, inviting expressions of interest in the post and hiring consultants to carry out an international search.

The name on many lips is that of Robert Watt, secretary general of the Department of Public Expenditure.

But the names of several other ranking economists, civil servants and central bankers are also in circulation.

Mr Watt is perceived by many close observers as the obvious favourite. His background is in economics, he runs a complex organisation and works at the very apex of policymaking within the Government system. To succeed, however, he would have to overcome any concern about returning control of the bank to a civil servant.

Still, a public contest for the post prevents any automatic changeover between Merrion Street and Dame Street. The appointment of Prof Honohan, an academic economist, was a break from that long tradition.

The Central Bank was overhauled after the crash. Although the IMF recently urged Dublin to “enhance” the Central Bank’s independence, it said there was no evidence of political interference over its operational autonomy

For Ann Nolan, second secretary in the Department of Finance in charge of its financial services division, similar questions to Mr Watt arise.

Given her prime role in banking policy and the Central Bank’s role in bank regulation, she is seen in some quarters as a contender for the governorship.

High-powered

Two high-powered names now outside the world of Dublin economics are mentioned by close observers of the contest.

First is former Competition Authority chief John Fingleton, who ran Britain’s Office of Fair Trading from 2005 to 2012. A former academic at the London School of Economics, Trinity College Dublin and the University of Chicago, Mr Fingleton now runs his own consultancy in London. Second is Mark Wynne, vice-president and senior economist at the Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas. A graduate of UCD and the University of Rochester, he has been with the Dallas bank since 1989 but also spent time at the European Monetary Institute and European Central Bank.

Senior ECB posts

Within the Central Bank itself, newly-installed chief economist Gabriel Fagan is seen as a possible successor to Prof Honohan. He held a succession of senior ECB posts before returning to Dame Street last October, including leadership of the ECB’s monetary policy research division.

To take the governorship, however, Mr Fagan would have to leapfrog the bank’s two deputy governors: Frenchman Cyril Roux; and Stefan Gerlach, who has joint Swedish and Swiss nationality. Their intentions are not known but proximity to the top seat means each could mount a challenge for the post.

Another possible contender within the wider Central Bank world is Prof Alan Ahearne, head of economics at NUI Galway and a member of the Central Bank commission. He was senior economist at the Federal Reserve in Washington and advised Alan Greenspan and Ben Bernanke on the world economy.

He was adviser to the late Brian Lenihan after the crash and was centrally involved in the struggle to overcome the crisis in the banks and public finances before the Fianna Fáil-led government lost power in 2011.

Another possible contender from NUI Galway is economics professor John McHale, chief of the Irish Fiscal Advisory Council. In this capacity, Prof McHale has not shirked from criticism of Mr Noonan’s fiscal strategy.

Philip Lane, Whately professor of political economy at Trinity College Dublin, is mentioned by many observers as a possible contender. Also mentioned is Ibec chief Danny McCoy, economist turned business lobbyist.