The engineering sector in Ireland developed mainly as a result of Irish companies supplying the multinationals based here. The Irish suppliers initially provided subcontract work but many developed their expertise over the years and, by investing heavily in research and development, were able to produce branded products, which are sold globally.
This sector now has a comprehensive selection of companies providing a diverse range of products and services. This year, total sales for the sector will be about €1.2 billion, with many of the leading companies exporting beyond the UK into the rest of Europe and further afield. Within the engineering sector there are three main sub-sectors, namely aerospace, agricultural machinery, and process engineering and instrumentation. The companies are widely dispersed throughout Ireland; however, certain regional specialities are developing, such as a cluster of tool making expertise in the northwest and forklift manufacturing in the northeast.
Engineering companies service a great range of industrial sectors, from electronics to chemical and pharmaceutical, food and beverages to medical devices.
Enterprise Ireland is also committed to developing new, emerging sectors such as renewable energy and nanotechnology. Intensive work is also continuing to improve the competitiveness of the engineering sector, which has come under pressure in recent times. Productivity is being improved. Efforts are also continuing to improve the flow of engineering graduates from Ireland’s universities and Institutes of Technology and to encourage second level students to take up engineering.
Some examples of companies in this sector include Waterford Stanley in Waterford, renowned for its foundry and casting work; Combi-Lift in Co Monaghan, which makes highly innovative forklift trucks and Geith International, which manufactures excavator buckets in Co Meath. There are also over 170 overseas owned companies that operate in Ireland in such different sectors as aerospace, automotive components and materials handling. They too provide a wide range of product manufacturing and service expertise, in all aspects, from design to automation.
The sector has also benefited from the government’s €52 billion National Development Plan, 2000-2006. This has provided a major incentive, as most of the new projects to improve the country’s infrastructure, from motorways to bridges, airport and port extensions and railway expansion, need engineering expertise.
In such a wide ranging and diverse sector, one recent project not only summed up the capabilities of engineering companies based in Ireland but really captured the public imagination. The Dublin Spire, a stainless steel tube that stands 120 metres high in O’Connell Street, in the heart of Dublin, is Ireland’s newest tourist attraction. It was built in six sections by the Radley Engineering Company in Dungarvan, Co Waterford, which specialises in engineering fabrication. The sections were taken by road transport to Dublin and assembled on site. The Dublin Spire, the tallest fabricated structure ever built in Ireland, is an excellent testimony to the skills of the Irish engineering sector.