Charlie McCreevy has not had to look far to find a suitable replacement for the position of vice-president of the European Investment Bank following the withdrawal of Hugh O'Flaherty.

Second secretary at the Department of Finance Michael Tutty has emerged as front runner. It is understood that Mr McCreevy will offer him the job when he returns to work on Monday.

The Minister's main priority is to come up with a name which will raise no objections at Cabinet and who will receive cross-party support. He is adamant that charges of cronyism or jobs for the boys will not be able to be raised. As a result, he appears to have decided that the £147,000-a-year job will have to go to a prominent public servant or former civil servant.

Initial talk that the job could go to a banker was quickly dismissed. After all, in these post-Public Accounts Committee Dirt investigation days, Mr McCreevy had to avoid any nominee who worked for an institution accused of wrongdoing. The danger that some long-forgotten political history could arise to spite the Minister again could not be countenanced.

Mr McCreevy will bring a name to Cabinet on Wednesday and, following approval from his Cabinet colleagues, will give that name to his Danish and Greek counterparts at the informal Ecofin, or meeting of finance ministers, in Versailles on Friday and Saturday.

His first choice was Dr Michael Somers, chief executive of the National Treasury Management Agency. The Doc, as he is called, had been sounded out before the nomination of Mr O'Flaherty and is understood not to have been keen. Indications are that he was still unenthusiastic when asked again over the last few days.

Dr Somers is a former Department of Fi nance mandarin and now runs the National Treasury Management Agency, which manages the Republic's debt on behalf of the Exchequer. He has recently settled into a new house in Dublin where he enjoys living.

In recent months the agency has won significant contracts which will ensure its continued existence, as once Ireland joined the euro it was felt that the office would be downsized. It will now be looking after the new national pension schemes, the insurance schemes for State and public bodies and the funds of local authorities and health boards.

Many of the contracts were won despite some opposition from the Department of Finance, and Dr Somers is thought to have a good personal relationship with Mr McCreevy.

Thus, the favourite for the EIB job is Michael Tutty. He was not appointed to the secretary general post in finance earlier this year - to the surprise of many insiders. He had been considered almost the automatic candidate. In the event, it went to John Hurley who had overseen the last two sets of pay negotiations between the Government and the social partners.

The EIB could be considered a good consolation prize, but some sources suggest that relations between himself and the Minister are at best cordial. However, he is an extremely well-thought-of career civil servant and is certainly a safe pair of hands.

He has spent most of his career at the Department of Finance and was the first Irish chair of the EU Monetary Committee and speaks excellent French. In the past, he has had responsibility for co-ordinating all EU matters in the Department.

He was born and brought up near the Taoiseach, Mr Ahern, in Drumcondra in Dublin, where he still lives. A keen hurler, he spends most Sundays in the season in Croke Park.

In the past he has been described as "straight out of Yes Minister, a real Sir Humphrey kind of guy. What he lacks in imagination he makes up in terms of probity and accountability."

Another possible candidate, although now thought more unlikely, is the former secretary general at the Department of Public Enterprise, Mr John Loughrey. He also has wide-ranging experience in Europe and is a good French speaker. He was previously secretary general at the Department of Transport, Energy and Communications.

Earlier in his career, he spent some time at the EIB and has also worked for the Department of Finance. As secretary general, he travelled to ministerial meetings in Brussels and has good contacts there.