Last week the Irish government published its “whole-government” Action Plan on Competitiveness and Productivity. It’s an ambitious document that presents lots of possible opportunities for Northern Ireland's tech sector.
So what’s in it?
The action plan sets out 26 priority actions, 85 lower tier actions, and 19 goals across six themes. The plan considered 168 consultation responses, with Ulster accounting for 10% or c.17 responses. All very exciting, but is there money to make it happen? There's €275.4 billion capital investment allocated up to 2035.
So this isn't a strategy as we would recognise them in Northern Ireland. This one has timelines, targets and budgets.
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Reading the Runes
This document is a sharp reaction to the new tariff environment we're living in. The first paragraph on page one, penned by the Taoiseach, Tánaiste and the Enterprise Minister, says:
“Trade fragmentation, rising protectionism, and geopolitical uncertainty are reshaping global supply chains and investment flows. Any disruption to trade flows, including the imposition of a new tariff regime on goods entering the US, poses substantial risks for Irish-based exports to a key market.”
The Irish government wants to make its economy “shock resistant” to future adverse economic events. The strategy is focused on “controlling the controllables”. I read this as an Ireland more independent of mind; less captured within the gravitational pull of the US and the EU, but commanded more by its own momentum. There's lots of stuff too about tackling regulatory burdens and managing collective bargaining - this might be an attempt to distinguish itself within the EU bloc and a signal that it will shrug off red tape.
The Irish government is clearly prejudiced towards swift action - in the north, we can only stare on in wonder. Its Programme for Government called for an Action Plan on Competitiveness and Productivity to be published in 12 months. When Trump’s first universal tariff landed in early April, they accelerated its publication. What they've created is a whole-government plan covering industrial policy, business costs and regulations, infrastructure, digital regulation and reform, energy reform, international trade and R&D, and innovation. And it was done in just a few months.
Ambition at Scale
The plan’s themes cover the usual suspects: research, innovation and skills; boosting FDI and exports; creating and scaling more SMEs; regulating for growth and controlling costs; increasing capacity to deliver infrastructure; and boosting regional development.
There's a couple of points that leap out. It's a priority to develop a new agency to position Ireland as a global IP hub. It'll leverage strengths in technology, pharmaceuticals, and creative industries, and exploit
the economic potential of IP management. The government wants to increase the number of resident patent applications per million inhabitants by 250% over 10 years. Of course, this will be some going - that rate has increased only 30% over eight years. But it's ambitious and, within the framework of the multi-billion euro investment, seemingly rational.
This drive for greater invention will create a more vibrant all-island innovation environment that will lap up against our border counties and present opportunities for our frontier, emerging and deep technology sectors. A thriving culture of IP generation and commercialisation in Ireland too will surely inspire and potentially engage NI tech companies in similar efforts.
Ireland will also create a new High-Performance Computing Strategy on a cross-Government basis encompassing Quantum, High Performance Computing, AI and data infrastructures. Alongside this, they'll establish: a new National Digital & AI Strategy; a CAV (Connected and Autonomous Vehicles) strategy; a new Government Trade and Investment Strategy; a new national Life Sciences Strategy; and a green industrial growth strategy. Northern Ireland has strengths in CAV and life sciences, and can also bring much to joint trade opportunities. (NI's AV ecosystem is growing through initiatives like the Belfast City & Region Place Partnership and Harlander; and NI's life sciences cluster is a £1.9-2.4 billion powerhouse, employing 18,000+ and exporting to 145+ countries.)
The All-Island Infrastructure Opportunity
But the area of HPC interests me. We have our own HPC facility which is jointly managed by Queen's University Belfast and Ulster University. The role of HPC and how we approach infrastructure is a question that ought to be considered on an all-island basis.
Just as our electricity grids were integrated for mutual benefit and we've had an all-island energy market since 2018, Ireland's massive digital infrastructure investment could transform shared computing capacity across the island.
Beyond its own borders, Ireland can also tap into the AI Factory/AI Antenna in the EU. With greater cooperation with our neighbour on HPC, more SMEs can integrate AI into their products and processes efficiently, boosting the productivity growth we're committed to enhancing here. Conversations on HPC are surely already happening, but this ought to deepen considerably now.
The RegTech Sweet Spot
Aside from more detail on the AI Observatory, Ireland is looking closely at regulations. The government will establish an AI regulatory sandbox, and publish guidance and support on compliance with the EU AI Act and other sectoral regulations. This could present a huge opportunity for Northern Ireland's burgeoning RegTech cluster.
The recent Matrix Panel report on RegTech noted that there’s an “opportunity for NI to act as a testbed for multijurisdictional RegTech solutions, including exporting across regulatory regimes and tracking and tracing of goods”. That report noted that there was currently “no identified fora, hub, or centre that explicitly has a cross-sectoral focus on RegTech and regulatory learning, the emergent nature of application in many sectors, and the early stage of research for RegTech’s potential role in supporting AI regulation”.
Given the furnace of invention burning across the border (requiring regulatory guidance and expertise) and our existing first-mover advantages in this space, it might be a good idea for the Executive to pick this up. This is one area that deserves structure and mass behind it to set the stage of partnership to happen.
Regional Development
The plan explicitly aims for a more balanced regional economic growth, with a 50/50 distribution of future growth between the Eastern and Midlands region, and the Southern and Northern & Western regions combined. Increased investment and economic activity in this bordering region, driven by new Regional Enterprise Plans and potential new Regional Enterprise Development Funds, could generate positive spill-over effects for contiguous areas in Northern Ireland through increased trade, shared labour markets, and improved infrastructure connections.
InterTradeIreland Is Everyone’s New Best Friend
If InterTradeIreland was busy before, it'll be much busier now. Each of Ireland's new strategies - from Digital & AI to Life Sciences to green industrial growth - may present opportunities for internal trade on the island, or joint missions overseas for Northern Ireland and Irish companies (which is where an energised Enterprise Ireland comes in).
The investment expenditure alone makes engagement a necessity. If you're an SME in Northern Ireland with an exportable product, I'd suggest you make InterTradeIreland your new best friend. They're a good first port of call to help Northern Ireland companies access things like Ireland's regulatory sandboxes, connect with Irish supply chains benefiting from this massive investment, and jointly bid for international contracts.
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A Strategic Partnership for Uncertain Times
The Irish government states that success of their action plan "will depend on collaboration across Departments, agencies, industry, academia, and civil society". Why shouldn't that collaboration extend across the border?
In an era of trade fragmentation and rising protectionism, the island of Ireland has a unique opportunity. Ireland's €275.4 billion investment combined with Northern Ireland's established strengths in areas like RegTech, advanced manufacturing, and digital services could create a formidable economic partnership
Sync NI's Summer 2025 magazine celebrates women in tech across Ireland as we continue to encourage more women to enter the thriving sector and address the current gender imbalance. Read the Summer 2025 Sync NI Magazine online for free here.
