At John Paul Construction, we’re proud to be part of the ongoing story of Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) in Ireland

Liam Kenny Managing Director, John Paul Construction

Over our almost 75 years in business, Ireland’s economy has completely transformed. FDI has been a major contributor to that success, helping to create a thriving ecosystem of 900-plus US subsidiaries here, including blue-chip firms in key FDI sectors like Digital Media, Life Sciences and Advanced Technology.

As one of Ireland’s leading contractors, John Paul Construction is proud to work with many of them.

Currently, we’re working on no fewer than seven major schemes for FDI clients in Ireland, including a number of hyperscale and co-location data centres in Dublin, a pharma facility and lab/admin building in Limerick, med-tech facilities in Kilkenny, Longford and Galway and an expansion to a beverage manufacturing facility in Cork. In recent years in particular, the strong relationships we’ve built with our FDI clients have resulted in repeat business both in Ireland and abroad, with a semi-conductor manufacturing facility in Oxford, UK and more recently a data centre in Frankfurt, Germany. And there are more in the pipeline.

The economic growth from FDI operations has also created a need for improved infrastructure and more housing. John Paul Construction is helping to meet these needs by delivering major residential schemes as well as key infrastructure projects such as the Greenlink Interconnector in Wexford, which will add much-needed power to the electrical grid, and the upgrade of Rosslare Europort. The port project, now underway, is vast, and reflects widespread optimism in Ireland’s ability to attract investment in a post-Brexit environment.

Tackling Challenges Head On

At John Paul Construction, every milestone is a stepping stone for the next challenge. Right now, the most pressing challenges include digital transformation, the growing climate crisis and the need for a diverse workforce that reflects our society. These are complex issues that we continue to address head on so we can succeed into the future.

Technology and innovation have a major role to play here. By ensuring our teams are well versed in the latest technologies and methodologies, we can operate more efficiently and deliver greener buildings. In doing so, we not only future-proof our projects but contribute to the overall advancement of our industry. We’ve also invested heavily in cybersecurity to protect both our own systems and our clients’ valuable data.

Our ESG policies are another major focus. As well as sustainability, DE&I is a strategic priority for us. Take gender representation as one example. The company’s consistent efforts to promote women in the industry mean that they now make up a significant portion of our workforce. Our DE&I efforts were recognised in 2023 with a Silver Medal in the Investors in Diversity Awards, and whilst we were pleased, we know there’s always more to be done.

There’s one strategy in particular that has helped us to remain resilient: sectoral and geographical diversification. In recent years we’ve opened offices in the UK and Europe and established ourselves as a specialist as much as a generalist, with expertise in high-tech, high-growth areas like advanced technology. Today we’re attracting more and more clients whose commitments and vision match ours. FDI clients are amongst them. These companies are operating at the top of their game, and it’s our job to make sure we’re doing the same. Working with them enables us to scale both our ambition and our capacity. The bigger our clients and client base, the more sophisticated our structures and processes become in order to be able to deal successfully with the variety and scale of projects we’re building.

It’s a challenge we relish. As a proud Irish company, we work hard to combine a local focus — practices that support the local economy, communities and charities — with a global vision. We reach a milestone later this year when John Paul Construction celebrates its 75th anniversary, but however proud we are of our history, we’re even more excited about our future.