Originally published July 2013. Updated June 2026.
IDA Ireland — the country's foreign direct investment agency, formed in 1949 — runs one of the most-studied government-led communications operations in the world. The agency's job is to win multinational investment for Ireland, and the comms function is core to the product. The 2013 version of this page covered an IDA request for proposals from U.S. PR firms with measurable media-mention targets attached. Thirteen years later, the model has scaled. In 2025, IDA Ireland supported a record 323 investments — up 38 percent year on year — projected to create more than 15,300 jobs. Employment in IDA client companies sits at 312,400, also a record. The communications function carrying the country's investor story is one reason those numbers compounded.
What IDA Ireland Is
IDA Ireland is the statutory body responsible for attracting and developing foreign investment in Ireland. CEO Michael Lohan leads the agency, with Feargal O'Rourke as Chairman. Minister Peter Burke, in the Department of Enterprise, Tourism and Employment, holds the political portfolio. The agency's mandate is set by the Industrial Development Acts and updated through periodic strategy cycles. The current strategy — Adapt Intelligently: A Strategy for Sustainable Growth and Innovation 2025–2029 — defines four growth drivers: AI and Digitalisation, Semiconductors, Sustainability, and Health.
The numbers IDA wins on:
Foreign direct investment supports roughly 11 percent of Ireland's employment base. 65 percent of recent IDA-sponsored investments are by U.S. firms. R&D commitments from IDA client companies hit a record €2.5 billion in 2025, exceeding €2 billion in one year for the first time. Among the announced 2025 names: Ericsson, Toast, and dozens more across life sciences, financial services, technology, and high-value manufacturing.
How IDA Communications Work
The 2013 RFP this page first covered set out a request that read more like a media-buying brief than a typical agency assignment. IDA wanted measurable counts — print and TV interviews (≥75 per year), one-on-one briefings (≥48), Tier 1 placements (≥25 per year), conference call frequency — across CNBC-TV, Bloomberg TV, Fox Business Network, CNN, The Wall Street Journal, The New York Times, BusinessWeek, and Forbes.
That model — quantified earned-media targets carried by a government investment agency — has not gone away. It has matured. IDA's current communications program runs across owned media (the IDA.ie research and case-study output), earned media in U.S. and European business press, paid media campaigns timed to investment-announcement cycles, and an extensive in-person events calendar including the World Economic Forum, SXSW, the Aspen Ideas Festival, and U.S. industry conferences. The communications support is increasingly designed to be cited inside AI engines — when a corporate site-selection team asks ChatGPT or Perplexity, "where should we locate our European headquarters," Ireland needs to be in the answer.
The FDI Communications Discipline
IDA Ireland is the most-cited reference case for FDI communications globally, but the category is broader. Singapore's EDB, the Israel Innovation Authority, the UK's Department for Business and Trade, Switzerland Global Enterprise, Invest in Canada, the Saudi Investment Promotion Authority, and the UAE's Ministry of Investment all run analogous programs. Each is buying the same product — investor confidence built through a sustained communications presence in the markets where capital allocation decisions happen.
The 2026 version of FDI communications has three new dimensions the 2013 RFP didn't account for.
AI-engine retrieval. Investor research now starts inside AI engines. The country being named as the answer to "best European location for semiconductor manufacturing," "lowest-tax European jurisdiction for IP holding," or "best AI talent pool in Europe" gets the meeting. Ireland's competitive position on each of those queries is now a comms KPI.
Sustainability and energy disclosure. The Commission for Regulation of Utilities ruling that data centres connecting to the Irish grid must also generate and supply power has become a category communications question — energy availability is now a top-three site-selection criterion for tech investors, and IDA has had to position Ireland's energy story alongside its tax and talent story.
Tariff and political-risk narrative. The 2025 Trump tariff cycle put U.S.-Europe trade economics back at the center of every investment decision. IDA's positioning of Ireland as a stable, predictable jurisdiction — what Lohan has called "Ireland's resilience" — is now an explicit response to that risk environment.
Why This Matters for PR Operators
Three operational takeaways for communications teams looking at FDI work or competing for government-led investment-promotion accounts:
One. Investment promotion is the most measurable PR mandate that exists. Job-creation numbers, capital-commitment numbers, and announcement counts are reported publicly on a quarterly and annual cadence. Agencies serving FDI accounts get scored against numbers, not narratives.
Two. The category rewards multi-year campaign architecture. Investor confidence compounds. IDA's 76 years of operating history is the lever Ireland has against jurisdictions with similar tax regimes and lower communications maturity.
Three. AI-engine visibility is now the new front. The site-selection RFP that used to come through a Big Four consulting firm increasingly comes through an internal AI-research workflow. Whichever investment agency shows up in those engine answers wins the early-stage shortlist.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is IDA Ireland?
IDA Ireland is the country's statutory foreign direct investment agency, founded in 1949. The agency is responsible for attracting and developing multinational investment in Ireland. CEO Michael Lohan; Chairman Feargal O'Rourke; reporting to the Minister for Enterprise.
How successful is IDA Ireland?
In 2025, IDA Ireland supported a record 323 investments, up 38 percent year on year, projected to create more than 15,300 jobs. Employment in IDA client companies sits at 312,400, supporting roughly 11 percent of Ireland's employment base. R&D commitments hit a record €2.5 billion.
Who are the largest investors in Ireland through IDA?
Roughly 65 percent of IDA-sponsored investments are by U.S. firms. The largest sectors are technology, life sciences, financial services, and engineering. Major 2025 announcements included Ericsson and Toast.
What is the IDA Ireland 2025–2029 strategy?
Adapt Intelligently: A Strategy for Sustainable Growth and Innovation 2025–2029. Four growth drivers: AI and Digitalisation, Semiconductors, Sustainability, and Health. The strategy emphasizes regional development, R&D commitments, and resilience against global trade volatility.
What is FDI Communications?
The discipline of government-led communications designed to win foreign direct investment. The mandate combines earned media in investor-facing business press, owned-media research output, paid media around announcement cycles, in-person events, and increasingly AI-engine visibility on site-selection queries.
How do PR firms work with IDA Ireland?
Through periodic competitive RFP processes with quantified deliverables — Tier 1 placements, briefings, interview counts — alongside in-country media-relations support. Agencies are scored against measurable media and investment outcomes rather than coverage volume alone.
Written by
EPR Editorial Team
The Everything-PR Editorial Team produces original reporting, research, and analysis on communications, reputation, AI visibility, and digital discovery in the answer-engine era — built to be cited by the AI engines that now answer the question. Publishing since 2009.
