Ireland and the US: Driving a Special Transatlantic Relationship
Deb Mangone VP and Country Manager, Pfizer Healthcare Ireland
2024 marks 55 years since Pfizer established its operations in Ireland, choosing Ringaskiddy, County Cork as its first location. It’s hard to fathom how a company with relatively modest beginnings – producing citric acid – now has over 5,000 colleagues in Ireland across three counties.
Our colleagues here work across a multitude of different areas including manufacturing pharmaceutical compounds for Pfizer’s clinical trials globally, researching the next digital health innovation, managing global business services and ensuring access and availability of breakthroughs to the people of Ireland.
One strong commonality between 1969 and now is how we have benefitted from having Pfizer as well as external stakeholders driving the Ireland-US relationship forward. In fact, it was thanks to two Pfizer leaders with Irish heritage, John J. Powers and Jack Mulcahy who were the catalysts for Pfizer initially choosing Ireland as an investment location.
Fast forward to today and Pfizer Ireland has colleagues reflecting more than 40 nationalities including a US citizen as its Country Manager. As an American living and working in Ireland I take great privilege in driving the special relationship between these two countries. Immigration and embracing diversity are just two common ways of connecting the US and Ireland.
Prior to starting my role in Ireland in 2022, I had a strong personal appreciation for the bond between the two countries. However, after now experiencing the US-Ireland symbiotic relationship first-hand, the importance and significance of the two-way trade and investment relationship is highly evident.
For example, the level of Irish investment in the US continues to grow with Ireland as the 9th largest source of FDI to the US with 500 Irish companies employing almost 100,000 people across all 50 states. Further, over 900 Irish owned companies export to the US and exports to the region were up 14% from 2021 to 2022 – an all-time high
Here in Ireland, there are now more than 970 US companies, employing 378,000 people directly and indirectly, and spending more than €41 billion in the Irish economy annually. Currently, around two-thirds of the investment into Ireland are from US MNCs. Pfizer contributes to these figures with over €9 billion invested in Ireland since our inception and as a global leader with our medicines being manufactured in Ireland shipped to over 120 countries across the world.
As with any relationship, it is necessary to nourish to grow and prosper, whether it is through organizations like American Chamber or direct engagements between companies and Ireland. We must continue to find opportunities to expand the special relationship between the US and Ireland.
Whatever is to come, one thing is certain – we all want the political, personal and economic bonds that our countries share to continue to prosper.
Here in Ireland, there are now more than 970 US companies, employing 378,000 people directly and indirectly, and spending more than €41 billion in the Irish economy annually.
