THE ILLUSTRATOR Chris Judge If you were hanging around Dublin airport's arrival halls this Christmas, you can't have missed Judge's 40-foot long welcoming illo at the gate. Colour and unique characters define his quirky style and whether it's for corporate clients like Coke or his work-in-progress graphic novel, it's superb stuff.

The Multimedia Artist John Gerrard Dividing his time between Dublin and Vienna, the 32year-old former sculptor turned his attention to the electronic arts to international acclaim. Gerrard's manipulation of digital technologies is exciting, experimental and consistently groundbreaking.

The Creative Richard Seabrooke The creator of www. candyculture. net and creative director of design agency Dynamo is flying the flags for Irish creatives and quickly establishing Dublin as a hot spot teeming with designers and other creative souls through events like Sweet Talk and collaborations with the likes of PSP and Habitat.

The DJ Edel Coffey The Sunday Tribune theatre critic was the last on air when Phantom FM got pulled and is quickly becoming their most-liked DJ now that they're legal. Access All Areas between 10 and 12 goes up against some of radio's most popular shows, but Coffey's charms seems to be winning many over.

The Novelist Claire Kilroy The Stylist Celestine Cooney Stylist and artist, Cooney served her time as fashion editor on two Dublin magazines before heading to London where she landed a much sought-after position with style bible, Dazed. Also works as creative consultant for Top Shop.

www. celestinecooney. com

The Renaissance Man Graham Cruz As much trend spotter as trend starter, Cruz's talent as stylist is only matched by his enthusiasm. Having worked with everybody who's anybody fashionrelated in the country, he's also adding acting to his CV.

The Photographer Christian Ammann Cork man Ammann is now based in Switzerland and works internationally as a snapper of fashion and celebrities alongside commercial advertising work. Has done some topnotch shoots for the likes of Image magazine, Brown Thomas and others in Ireland.

The Retailers The Proxy People Buried in a basement on Dublin's South William Street (where everything exciting seems to be happening at the moment), you'll find some of the city's most exiting and covetable pieces of clothing. Dubliner Damien Gahan and Aussie Fiona Mullen have created a high-fashion haven that's still affordable. Keep up to speed with their new stock delivery dates or you'll find the best stuff has been swiped up.

The Website Editor Derek O'Connor Finger-on-the-pulse in the extreme, O'Connor has turned www. bloggorah. com into an essential daily read for anything related to Irish media, gossip and slagging. The Andrea Roche feud is savage . . . in every sense of the word . . . and O'Connor's pithy commentary will have you weeping tears of laughter into your computer. Oh, to be so witty.

The Film Festival Director Nicky Gogan An early champion of Irish digitalfilmmaking, Darklight Film Festival is her baby, which has now all grown up to feature prominently on the international register. Recently launched Wildlife, Ireland's first channel for original short films on mobile phones.

The Trend Setter Troy Maguire From L'Gueleton to pastures new at Locks in Portobello (via a moreish pie menu at new bar South William), Maguire whetted our appetite with rustic French dishes, the success of which relies on exhaustively sourced seasonal food and brilliant execution. Great name too.

The Make-Up Artist Derrick Carbury Ex MAC and currently working out of Brown Sugar on South William Street (yes, that place again), Carbury's incredible skill lies in his ability to enhance his subject's existing beauty and not lose her individuality beneath layers of slap.

The Magazine Chiefs The Mongrel Boys Three years on and Sam Bungey and Yousef Eldin's free-zine continues to provoke, amuse and entertain. Sparky content and some really decent fashion shoots too.

The Convenience Kings Cully and Sully Purveyors of the readymade meals you're proud to put into your shopping basket, Cullen Allen and Colum O'Sullivan draw on their Ballymaloe connections (Cully is Rory and Hazel Allen's son) and serve up proper grub like fish and shepherd's pie.

The ceramic bowl option is a nice touch too and their recent forays into soups have been a huge success.

The Avant Garde Chef Dylan McGrath Food meets art at Mint, Ranelagh, Dublin 6, where McGrath presides over the kitchens. Having worked with Tom Aikens, McGrath creates the kind of food that have critics salivating and other chefs curious to experience what his interpretation of pig's head might be.

The Label Angry Design Things to make you go 'grrrr' but in a very good way, Angry makes the coolest Tees in town, with the emphasis on bold graphics and simple colours. Scott Burnett and Johnny Kelly are behind the label, which also includes bags, coats, customised weighing scales and badge sets celebrating font families.

The Front Man Neilo Thing The Things have brought garage punk back into the rock clubs of Dublin and their front man Neilo Thing heads the most dangerously energetic live show around.

The Band Warlords of Pez Partly responsible for bringing that Twink phone message to the masses, Warlords of Pez are impossible to classify. One expert design, one satan, and one part just weird, their new album features some of the best ever track names, including 'What's Love Got To Do With Swallowing Horse Vomit?'

The Rapper Rob Kelly Messiah J and the Expert aside, Rob Kelly, aka Bobby Bars, is the only name worth talking about when it comes to hip hop in Ireland. The Wexford rapper, who recently released the album Bragging Rights, has appeared on numerous mixtapes . . . the bread and butter of underground hip hop in the US . . . totalling 20,000 sales.

The Filmmaker Ruairi Robinson Things have taken off for Robinson since his short animated film Fifty Percent Grey was nominated for an Oscar four years ago. His latest film The Silent City stars Cillian Murphy and Don Wycherly. More importantly in a world of pretensions, Robinson has a sense of humour.

The Actress Antonia Campbell Hughes The fashion designer put the clothes back on the rack this year to concentrate on acting, landing a key part in Jack Dee's critically acclaimed but under the radar BBC comedy Lead Balloon. Has just wrapped up a lead role in Irish-Polish thriller 3 Crosses.

The Boxer Katie Taylor Twenty-year-old Taylor from Bray was crowned the World Lightweight Champion when she beat the reigning champion by a margin of 23 to 6 in the semi finals of the championship in India earlier this year and then went on to defeat her Argentinean opponent in the final 31 to 14.

The Promoter Remedy The Remedy crew, made up of DJs Anthony Remedy and Razor are responsible for bringing some of the biggest and most eclectic names from house, techno, drum and bass and hip hop to venues around Dublin, as well as holding the Soul Food night in Bia Bar.

The only independent promoters that really challenge the big guns.

The Club Antics @ Crawdaddy Club NME may be trying to muscle in to the indie club scene, but at just a year old, Antics has become the best Wednesday night in the country. DJs Dave, John and Craig mix the hottest indie tracks with live acts, a fashionable crowd and cheap booze.

The Original Kathryn Calvert Blonde and terrifyingly beautiful, Kathryn has the distinction of being Ireland's only supermodel. First discovered in a restaurant in Belfast, she's signed to Ford in the States and Morgan the Agency in Dublin and has a face you could gaze at forever.

The TV Presenter Aidan Power Having risen through the ranks in RTE, Power currently multi-tasks as a presenter of TTV and with Laura Woods on The Cafe, but his professionalism and screen presence make take him further up the RTE ladder next year.

The Footballer Kevin Doyle The 23-year-old Reading striker is one of the highest scorers in the Premiership and his international career took off this year when he scored his first goal for Ireland against San Marino in November.

The Venue The Bernard Shaw (11-12 Richmond Street South, Portobello, Dublin 8) The hippest pub in the capital, now that it's home to the Bodytonic crew. Its art space will feature upand-coming painters, illustrators, etc and already had two excellent exhibitions, Hope and Despair, and affordable art fest Deck the Halls.

The Rugby Player Donncha O'Callaghan O'Callaghan ended his year in style, and almost in the nip, when he wanted to play on against Cardiff in his Munster knickers. But 2006 also saw him score his first international try (against France) along with three more in Munster's successful Heineken Cup campaign.