ENTREPRENEURS: Owner-Managers of businesses from all over Ireland will get the chance to test their entrepreneurial skills against those of their peers in the 2002 Entrepreneur of the Year Awards.

The search is on for Ireland's new entrepreneur of the year, to follow in the footsteps of previous winners Mr Martin McVicar, Mr Eddie Jordan, Mr Denis O'Brien and the creators of Riverdance, Mr John McColgan and Ms Moya Doherty.

The prestigious awards programme, created, developed and run by Ernst & Young in association with The Irish Times, Enterprise Ireland, Shannon Development, RTÉ and the Irish Centre for Business Excellence, sets out to identify the leading entrepreneurs on the island of Ireland.

The awards are targeted at owner-managers who are primarily responsible for the recent performance of a company that is at least two years old.

An exception to this may be made in the case of a younger e-business operation where business model planning and execution show a strong trend toward profitability, according to Ernst & Young.

Founders of public companies are also eligible, provided the founder is still active in top management, it added.

Anyone associated with the entrepreneur can make the nomination, including the individual themselves.

The closing date for nominations is Friday, March 29th. Nomination forms and further information can be obtained from a special website www.eoy.ie, or from Ernst & Young offices.

The programme in Ireland is part of a series run by Ernst & Young across the world.

The overall winner of the Irish event will represent Ireland in the World Entrepreneur of the Year Awards, which will be held in May 2003 in Monte Carlo.

The selection panel for this year's event is chaired by Mr Denis O'Brien, who won the award in 1998 and was a member of the World Entrepreneur of the Year judging panel last year.

Other members of the judging panel include: Mr Pat Maher, director of regions and investment services at Enterprise Ireland; Mr Pat McDonagh, chairman of Riverdeep and master entrepreneur of the year 2000; Mr Martin McVicar, entrepreneur of the year 2001 and managing director of Combilift; Mr Patrick O'Neill, chief executive of the Irish Centre for Business Excellence; Mr Maurice Pratt, group chief executive of Cantrell & Cochrane; Ms Ann Riordan, director of MediaLab Europe; and Ms Ann Shaw, chairman of the Northern Ireland division of the Institute of Directors.

As well as selecting an overall winner, individual winners will be selected in three categories - emerging entrepreneur, industry entrepreneur and technology entrepreneur.

Speaking at the launch of the awards, Mr Enda Kelly, partner in charge of the entrepreneurial excellerator group in Ernst & Young, said the programme was more than a night of acclaim at an awards ceremony or a trophy to display in a cabinet.

"It's about delivering 'value-in-participation' to all nominees in the programme. It's about 21 value enhancers that measurably build the entrepreneur's profile and actively, practically support the entrepreneur's quest to grow the business and realise value," he said.

The programme also provides practical support for all nominees through a range of business decision support tools and through access to knowledge on best practices from the Irish Centre for Business Excellence.

Ernst & Young will also conduct a survey of fast-growth entrepreneurs in Ireland concentrating on four strategic areas: management, marketing, finance and planning.

The survey will allow Irish entrepreneurs to benchmark their performance against more than 1,000 of their American and Australian counterparts.