It's been a long journey from Killiney to LA for Dublin-born star Allen Leech, but now that he's got there he looks every inch the star.

From fashion designers to actors and businesswomen to models, the next generation of young Irish people has thrown up some significant talent across a range of professions. These young people are among a pool of highly-accomplished achievers whose remarkable successes to date are bucking recessionary trends and putting their country back on the map.