Encompassing the counties of Westmeath, Offaly, Laois, and Longford, the Midlands of Ireland is well served with direct access to three international airports: Dublin, Shannon and Ireland West. Dublin is just 60 minutes’ drive away and connects to more than 185 global destinations.
In addition, there’s direct motorway access to large cities and towns as part of the national corridor for the road and rail network. The area is served by major rail routes and 50 daily return trains. The region offers logistical support with many hubs located there, and multiple shipping ports are within 50-80 minutes’ drive.
Active base of multinationals in the Midlands
There are 52 IDA Ireland client companies located in the region, employing over 8,000 people. We have seen a steady increase in employment of 35% over the past six years. The pool of companies is extremely diverse, spanning technology, medtech, pharmaceuticals, engineering, and business services.Ericsson is a reference point name for the region, with a presence in Athlone for more than 50 years. Its story also highlights the evolution and adaptability of many companies that come to Ireland. The communications technology giant originally set up a manufacturing operation in 1974; today its site in Athlone is exclusively dedicated to R&D.
The company is heavily plugged into the local education ecosystem, both at third level in TUS and earlier in the cycle, such as its initiative to encourage transition year students to consider careers in technology.Many don’t realise that Ericsson’s Midlands base is one of the largest agile software development centres in Ireland, employing more than 1,200 people.
Over the years, Ericsson has also created several spinouts from its Irish operations, including Zinkworks and Sidero (now Global Logic). Also on the technology side, the insurance company the Ardonagh Group set up a data analytics lab in Mullingar.
Decades of experience in the region
Another longstanding name in the region is Medtronic, a medtech company which has been in Ireland for more than 40 years. Athlone is the location of the site where it manufactures airways products and hosts an R&D centre of excellence, with 500 people working there. Solventum, formerly 3M Healthcare, also has similar numbers of staff on site in Athlone. Fast-rising pharmaceutical company Novo Nordisk acquired Alkermes’ Athlone site in 2023, with significant expansion planned. With a large presence in Tullamore in the Midlands, Steris is Ireland’s only sterilisation company, supplying many of the leading life sciences companies. Its central location is ideally suited for those companies shipping materials to the site. Other names include Thermo Fisher Scientific and Zoetis, an animal health company that has expanded several times in recent years.
Nearby in Longford, Abbott Diagnostics has almost a significant workforce. Currently the company employs 6,000 people in Ireland. Not only has the Longford site been growing steadily, it also has attracted several other engineering and sub-supply companies to the nearby area, including Avery Dennison and Technimark.
Though primarily known for engineering, Avery Dennison located its medical technology activities there. In 2022, Technimark invested €26 million to double the size of its 50,000 sq ft Longford site to cater for extra medical manufacturing capacity, such as precision injection moulding needed to create components for medtech companies.
Ready access to skilled talent
When it comes to attracting talent, the Midlands has a labour force of close to 1.1 million people within a 60-minute radius. We have successfully attracted talent with the advantage of what we like to call the ‘reverse commute’. Rather than enduring a congested city commute, people can travel more easily in the opposite direction towards the centre of Ireland.
Anecdotally, we have found that many skilled professionals working for companies in the region tend to stay there longer, which is an advantage for businesses looking to recruit – and retain – key talent in experienced and senior positions.The Midlands provides the perfect blend of urban and rural living without the drawbacks of crowded cities.
A survey by Collins McNicholas found that 72% of professionals working in the Midlands have four years or more industry experience. More than three-quarters of relocators to the Midlands moved to a similar or more senior role. The survey also noted the diversity of talent, with employees in the region speaking a variety of languages including French, German, Italian, Polish, Portuguese, and Spanish.
One of the reasons for the region’s recent growth is cost effectiveness: salaries are competitive and can be up to 10% lower compared to some city locations. Property costs can also be considerably lower. In the survey above, 70% of people said they had a lower cost of living compared to where they were based before. IDA also has a range of property solutions available across the Midlands, ranging from business and technology parks to advance building solutions to support companies in getting established quickly in the region.
Strong links to education and innovation
Linked to the talent pipeline, the Midlands has a number of third-level educational institutions within easy reach. Technological University of the Shannon (TUS) is the region’s hub, with its principal campus in Athlone. That institute alone has close to 15,000 students and there are many others within a relatively short commute.
Connected to the academic infrastructure, the Midlands also has a number of research centres that multinationals can collaborate with. In our experience, these facilities have proven to be key in attracting companies to look closer at the region and invest there.In September, TUS will open a multi-million euro STEM building, to ensure it continues to meet the huge growth in the industries operating in the region.
Irish Manufacturing Research (IMR) is a cross-sector, independent, not-for-profit research centre working with academic, government and industry partners, focused on advanced manufacturing for SMEs and for multinational corporations based throughout the island. It recently established an Additive 3D research pilot lab in Mullingar. Another research institute, PRISM in TUS, works on developing polymer manufacturing and new materials. This matches well to clients in the medtech and life sciences industries.
A growing sustainability story
Many of the research centres have expertise in working with plastics and are now turning towards sustainable materials, which is a growing area of interest for many businesses. In fact, IDA Ireland’s newly built Advanced Office Building in Athlone, is LEED accredited so it meets the green building rating standards, which is becoming a key priority for companies when they’re sourcing quality office space to meet sustainability requirements like the CSRD. In addition, Greenfield Global is an engineering company whose Portlaoise facility was one of the first NZEB (near zero energy buildings) to be completed under the new European standards.And on the subject of sustainability, the semi-state natural resources body Bord na Móna has ambitious plans for an eco energy park in the Midlands. This will transform approximately 3,000ha of land in counties Offaly, Westmeath and Meath into a sustainable development that will co-locate low- to zero-carbon energy generation assets such as wind and solar energy with industrial-scale, high-demand energy users.
It all adds up to keeping the Midlands ready to anticipate the future needs of the people who make their careers here, and the companies that want to employ them. It’s a compelling pitch for this highly connected part of Ireland.