Ireland is now the fifth largest source of foreign direct investment in the US with investment by Irish companies totalling $389 billion (€335 billion), according to Enterprise Ireland.
To mark the launch of its annual St Patrick’s Day business programme, the agency published new figures highlighting what it described as Ireland’s “resilient two-way economic partnership” with the US.
They indicated that Ireland was the single largest source of “new investment expenditures” in the US in 2024 accounting for $30.1 billion (€25.9 billion) while the top 10 Irish investors now employ over 125,000 people in the US.
Taoiseach Micheál Martin is expected to highlight the two-way nature of transatlantic investment and an expected €6.1 billion in planned investment in the US by Irish firms this year as part of his upcoming St Patrick’s Day visit to the White House.
The meeting comes amid heightened concern over Washington’s protectionist approach to tariffs and tax and the threat it poses to long-standing investment in Ireland by US multinationals.
“Irish investment in the United States has reached historic levels, reflecting a partnership that is more than just a series of trade figures – it is a deeply embedded, two-way relationship that provides immense benefit to both the Irish and American economies,” Martin said.
“Irish companies are not mere exporters; they are resilient partners, revitalising regional heartlands of America and a driver of the next wave of industrial and technology innovation,” he said.
Irish firms, including Smurfit Westrock, Kingspan, Glanbia, Kerry Group, Applegreen and CRH, view the US market as “their primary engine for global growth”, Enterprise Ireland said.
Smurfit Westrock, the world’s largest listed packaging company which employs 32,000 staff in the US, has committed to investing $1 billion per annum in US over the next five years.
Separatelt insulation specialist Kingspan plans to spend $1 billion over five years “on rural manufacturing and brownfield site renovation” in the US.
Nutrition group Glanbia is also spending approximately $100 million to expand its US capacity mainly in New Mexico and Ohio.
“Today’s milestones are a powerful illustration of that ambition,” Enterprise Ireland chief Jenny Melia said.
“Applegreen is building on more than €1 billion invested in the US since 2014 with a further $70 million investment and 400 new jobs in Colorado,” she said.
“Tines [Dublin and Boston-headquartered workflow automation platform] is creating 100 new high-value jobs in Boston as it scales its enterprise automation platform,” she said.
“And [payments groups] Fexco is making a multi-million-euro investment in payUnite, its next-generation payments orchestration platform, with an expanded US roll-out,” she said.
“These announcements represent a new generation of Irish enterprise: agile, innovative, and deeply committed to delivering a competitive edge for their US partners,” she said.