The search has begun for the 2006 Ernst & Young Entrepreneur of the Year.

The programme, which is in its ninth year, is seeking nominations from business founders of public companies who are still active in top management and from founders and managers who are responsible for the performance of a company that is at least two years old.

Entries can be made in one of three categories, with an overall winner to be announced at an awards ceremony in September. The categories are Emerging Entrepreneur of the Year, Industry Entrepreneur of the Year and International Services Entrepreneur of the Year.

Nominations to participate in the 2006 programme are being sought from the island of Ireland, with entries to be submitted by, Tuesday, February 28th, 2006.

Announcing the 2006 programme, Enda Kelly, Ernst & Young partner, said that participating in the Entrepreneur of the Year offers firms an excellent opportunity to network with other successful companies and to build their profile at a local and national level. "We offer a busy programme of events to advise, support and encourage entrepreneurial success," he said.

The programme is sponsored by The Irish Times, RTÉ, Enterprise Ireland, InterTrade Ireland, Invest Northern Ireland and Ulster Bank.

Previous winners include Aidan Heavey of Tullow Oil plc (2005), Peter Fitzgerald of Randox Laboratories (2004), Liam Shanahan of Shanahan Engineering (2003), Padraig O'Ceidigh of Aer Arann (2002) and Denis O'Brien (1998 Esat Digifone). They are amongst the members of the judging panel, which is chaired by Mr O'Brien.

Some 24 finalists will be selected from this year's entries in the three categories.

This year, the programme includes a retreat for these finalists in Shanghai in June, which includes seminars and networking meetings. China is now the world's second largest economy, presenting a huge opportunity for business, Mr Kelly said.

The 2006 programme has linked up with the Ryan Academy for Entrepreneurship and finalists will attend an Excellence in Strategy programme and will be invited to become Fellows of the Academy.

During the programme, finalists will be profiled in The Irish Times and will feature in four shows broadcast on RTÉ in the run up to the September final.

Nomination forms are available from www.eoy.ie or from Ernst & Young at 01 475 0575.