Irish directors are punching far above their weight in Britain's boardrooms.
Companies Office data indicate that UK companies employ a total of 47,858 Irish directors, more than any other foreign nationality.
While there have always been a number of high-profile Irish executives working in Britain, such as British Airways' Willie Walsh, former Granada boss Sir Gerry Robinson and Reuters chief Niall Fitzgerald, the new figures give a more detailed picture of the scale of the Irish presence in corporate Britain.
The Irish rank just ahead of the 47,724 German executives on British boards and more than 10,000 ahead of the next group of foreign directors - those coming from the United States.
Even allowing for the 10,784 Northern Ireland-based executives, the republic still provides more than 36,000 executives for British firms.
The research by Market Locations for Irish-owned but British-based agency Eulogy says Irish directors tend to be both younger - on average by six years - and better paid than the average foreign director.
The average salary of Irish directors is €100,400 - a figure that is skewed by the fact that the research covered both executive and non-executive directors. The figure is €7,824 higher than the average for non-Irish directors.
Unsurprisingly, London accounts for the greatest number of Irish directors - 26 per cent of the total - followed by Manchester, Harrow, Birmingham, Luton and Edinburgh. However, Irish directors are spread throughout the country, with one even based on the Scottish island of Orkney. Stephen Hughes, Enterprise Ireland head of northern Europe, said the data highlighted the close relationship between Irish and British business.
Adrian Brady, managing director of Eulogy, said that as it operates in both Ireland and Britain, his company commissioned the research in order to understand just how senior and influential Irish directors had become in British business.
"The report looks at a generation of Irish directors, many of whom came to Britain because they had no choice, but I believe the Celtic Tiger cubs will continue to shape Britain's businesses in the future."
