The finalists of the 2022 EY Entrepreneur of the year Ireland programme include businesses in the technology, consumer, manufacturing, energy, health and finance sectors.

Collectively the finalists, which were revealed today, generate annual revenues of over €800m.

The finalists - from across the island of Ireland - will compete across three categories - Emerging, Established and International.

One overall winner will be selected as the EY Entrepreneur of the year 2022 in November.

This year for the first time in the awards 25 year history, a new sustainability award will be presented to the finalist who is making the biggest contribution towards environmental sustainability through their business.

The "Emerging" finalists include John Harkin from Alchemy Technology Services, Allan F Beechinor and Niamh Parker from Altada, Alan Carson from Cloudsmith, Caroline Dunlea from Core Optimisation, Helen Cahill from InvoiceFair, Stephen Nolan from Nutritics, Fionn Lahart and Christoph Hennersperger from One Projects and Evelyn Kelly from Orphan Drug Consulting.

Among the "Established" finalists are Tom O'Connor and Kieran Cusack from Conack Construction, Harriet Dunne of ICE Comfort Slat Mats, Louis Copeland from Louis Copeland and Sons, Andrew Lynas from Lynas Foodservice, Michelle Daly from P&G Cards, Alan Browne from KOREC, Cathal Fay from PrePay Power and Paul Stewart of MyBaggage.

The "International" finalists include Justin Lawless from Intact, John T O'Sullivan from BioAtlantis, Gregory Bradley from BLK BOX, Michael Dixon of Dixon International Transport, Jacqueline O'Reilly from KonFloor, Michael Slein of LED Group ROBUS, Jamie O'Rourke from Mainline, Martin McKay from Texthelp and Aidan Corbett and Jack Pierse from Wayflyer.

Roger Wallace, Partner Lead for the EY Entrepreneur of the uear programme, said this year's entrepreneurs represent an impressive variety of industries, including consumer, healthcare, energy, banking, and manufacturing.

"From a company that has delivered Europe's largest windfarms to a family-run tailor that's been dressing some of Ireland's most well-known names since the 1930s, to a business leveraging cutting edge AI to unlock the value of data, the scope of the impact that these entrepreneurs have across the island of Ireland is vast," Mr Wallace said.

"Each of our entrepreneurs is revolutionising their own industries and creating opportunities for Ireland and beyond. EY is proud to support the island's entrepreneurs," he added.

The finalists have been shortlisted from over 100 nominations by an independent judging panel of previous winners, chaired by Anne Heraty, the founder of CPL Resources and EY Entrepreneur of the year from 2006.

"Such was the incredibly high calibre of applicants to this year's programme it was a real challenge for our experienced judges to select the finalists," Ms Heraty said.

"Despite the ongoing difficulties of Covid-19, and more recently the energy and inflation crisis and challenging geopolitical issues, it's inspiring to see our entrepreneurs as tenacious and relentless as ever in their pursuit to create innovative businesses that benefit Ireland and the wider world," she added.

Reporting: RTE News