The row over who will head the new European Central Bank should be sorted out at the EU summit in Brussels this weekend, according to informed sources. At the same time it has emerged that Ireland will insist there is an adequate voice on the ECB executive board for smaller member-states and that no country should have a permanent seat.

According to sources the most likely candidate to win the top job at the new ECB remains the Dutchman, Mr Wim Duisenberg.

There are understood to be several options under consideration including a deal which would guarantee the Frenchman, Mr Jean-Claude Trichet, the job if Mr Duisenberg were to step down or retire during his eight-year term.

However, a list of up to eight other candidates has also been drawn up. These include Mr Michel Sapin, of France, Mr Otmar Issing, the chief economist of the Bundesbank of Germany, and Mr Jean-Jacques Ray, chairman of the monetary policy sub-committee and one of the top officials at the Belgian central bank.

The EU ministers of finance are due to vote on the appointment of members of the executive board of the ECB on Saturday and sources now insist that this cannot go ahead without the issue of the president having first been sorted out.

German government sources also insisted that too much was at stake for European Union leaders to walk away from their weekend summit without choosing the president of the ECB.

Opponents of the deal to leave Mr Trichet in pole position should Mr Duisenberg step down argue that it will weaken the Dutchman's position at the helm. And while it does not actually contradict the letter of the Maastricht Treaty, it may do so in principle.

However, it is by no means certain that a deal will be done this weekend. The French are insisting that nothing need happen and are thus in a stronger position, one leading fund manager noted.

The French President, Mr Jacques Chirac, said the French were not prepared to give way on their candidate and issued an apparent admonition to Germany's Bundesbank.

The nomination of the ECB head was "a question (which concerned) the heads of state and government of the European Union and only them", Mr Chirac said in Tokyo.

"Therefore, it is up to them to decide," Mr Chirac said. "Of course, France will continue to support its candidate, and the European Union will decide."

If voting proceeds on members of the executive board, Ireland is adamant that smaller nations will get an "adequate voice". The Central Bank governor, Mr Maurice O'Connell, does not wish to be put forward for a position but, nonetheless, officials are determined to ensure that Ireland will be able to nominate a member at a future date.

The Irish position seeks to ensure that no state gets a permanent seat and supports the principle of rotation and the need for balance.

Governors who could prove acceptable to the Irish delegation include the Belgians, Austrians, Finns and Luxembourgers.