By Business & Finance 
Eamonn Sinnott, General Manager, Intel Ireland
Intel has a longstanding history in investing in Ireland since its arrival to our shores in 1989.
As of October 2017, Intel has invested €13.9 billion in its Irish operations since 1989. This has led to many beneficial factors to Ireland and the economy:
- €921 million contributed to the Irish economy annually
- Nearly 10,000 full-time equivalent jobs supported
- €3.9 billion spent on Irish labour
- €187 million spent on Irish suppliers per year
- Over €3 million contributed to Irish communities in the past five years
A lot has occurred since, with the multinational recently getting the go-ahead with planning permission for another plant in Kildare with the potential of generating another 3,850 jobs.
Humble beginnings
The main Leixlip campus covers 360 acres and has contributed so much to Ireland and its economy since the company’s modest Irish beginnings in a garage in Dublin.
The General Manager of Intel in Ireland, Eamonn Sinnott, commented on the “thriving state-of-the-art, advanced manufacturing campus in Leixlip” saying it is “staffed with highly-trained, motivated and flexible employees”.
The man behind the success
Eamonn Sinnott has been with Intel Ireland since 1991 and became a plant manager in 2006. He has held a variety of factory management positions in Ireland, Albuquerque, New Mexico and Portland, Oregon.
As well as being a General Manager of Intel Ireland, Sinnott is also Intel Vice-President within the company’s technology manufacturing group.
Prior to joining Intel, Sinnott worked as an engineer at Digital Equipment Corporation and as a manufacturing manager at Nuvotem.
Past recognition and key initiatives
Intel has made a number of initiatives over the years which place them on top of the Irish tech tree.
Last year, Intel was awarded FDI of the Month for March 2017 for investing in the self-driving car sector by agreeing to a $15.3bn purchase of Mobileye, a leading supplier of software that enables advanced driver assist systems (ADAS).
In June 2015 the company announced the Leixlip campus would be home to the Intel Internet of Things (IoT) Ignition Lab. IoT is turning any device/object into a smart device/object by having it communicate with other devices.
In December 2014 the company was awarded Company of the Month for its continued support of investment and research in Ireland. The organisation was also celebrating its 25th anniversary in Ireland.
In March 2014 it was announced that a $5 billion upgrade would be made to the Leixlip campus.
Intel’s key research and innovations in Ireland
Intel Galileo: Designed in Ireland, the Galileo was developed over three years by a team of 70 people. It was designed for the maker and education communities. It was the first Intel product exclusively designed and developed in Ireland.
Advanced microprocessors: Intel’s Shannon base designs advanced microprocessors for use in embedded computing, comms and storage. €51 million R&D expansion was announced in 2009.
Digital innovation: The Innovation Open Lab is focused on energy, sustainability and cloud services. It is involved with open research and innovation opportunities in Europe. The focus is to expand Intel’s R&D across Europe.
Manufacturing: The Product Development Engineering Team takes part in test solutions for Intel semiconductor circuits such as microprocessors, chipsets and consumer and embedded electronics.
