The chips are up: How Irish companies are cashing in on the microchip rush

Amid a global shortage of microchips, the EU and China are seeking to wrestle back control of their supply chains. And as the silicon wafers are now fundamental to so many industries, Ireland stands to benefit from what has quietly become its fourth-largest export

Analog Devices has had a major design and manufacturing base in Limerick since the 1970s

Some 263 million kilometres distant from Earth, tiny microchips designed and manufactured in Limerick are helping to power the Perseverance Rover as it wanders about Mars, gathering vital information about conditions on the red planet.

This may be one of the crowning achievements of American multinational Analog Devices, which has had a major design and manufacturing base in Limerick since the 1970s, but it is also just a small part of a company that produces ...