Digicel Group, the mobile-services company owned by Denis O’Brien, is planning to raise $1.5bn-$2bn (€1.78bn) in an initial public offering as soon as this month, people with knowledge of the matter said.

Irish billionaire Denis O’Brien’s Digicel Group, the mobile-services company operating in the Caribbean and South Pacific regions, plans to sell shares in an initial public offering and to list on the New York Stock Exchange.

A surgeon to the stars, a humanitarian, a business leader, and a pioneering dental researcher who has inspired a generation of dentists, are to be honoured by their university for making their mark on the world stage.

Despite almost four years of recession, Ireland’s richest are getting even richer.