American horizons: Why the IDA is still upbeat about US investment in Ireland

Last year, there were 250 foreign direct investments by multinationals in this country and despite global uncertainty, the IDA is positive about the future

Boston Scientific: the US pharmaceutical company is the largest employer in all of Ireland with well over 6,000 people working at its three facilities in Galway, Clonmel and Cork. Picture: Boston Scientific

Paul Veale can still remember his first year working in the US for IDA Ireland. It was 2012 and the global economy was not in a good place. The legacy of the financial crash meant a lot of US companies were struggling, markets were extremely volatile and foreign investment was hard to come by.

“I’d come into the IDA’s office in Boston in the morning and by the time I’d made some coffee the US ...