Ireland stands at a pivotal moment. Over recent decades, we have witnessed remarkable economic growth, seen our population expand and watched as new technologies reshape our lives. Yet, despite all this progress, there are reasons to be deeply concerned about a growing deficit in our national infrastructure – one that threatens to undermine everything we have worked so hard to achieve.
Our economy is robust; global investors and talented people are drawn to our shores. Communities across the State are changing, growing and thriving. However, the stark reality is that the development of our roads, homes, energy systems and networks that underpin this growth is simply not keeping up.
We are at a defining moment in our history. Yes, the world is uncertain and the challenges are great, but so too are the opportunities for Ireland, if only we have the ambition and determination to seize them.
What legacy will we leave for those who come after us? Will we be remembered as the generation that collectively rose to meet Ireland’s needs, or as one that shied away from making tough choices?
Housing shortages, congested transport systems and a stretched energy grid are not new problems. The publication of the refreshed National Development Plan has rightly brought fresh urgency to solving them.
These issues are now affecting the Republic’s ability to attract jobs and investment, ensure regional balance, deliver on our climate commitments and ultimately provide a standard of living expected from a country fortunate enough to be part of the developed world.
When I consider how Ireland has met daunting challenges, I think of Ardnacrusha. In the 1920s, our fledgling State committed to the world’s then most ambitious hydroelectric project, investing 20 per cent of the national budget.
Ardnacrusha wasn’t simply about providing electricity; it was about belief that a modern, self-sufficient Ireland was within our reach. We did not build it because we could afford it. We built it because we recognised we could not afford not to.
Why is the delivery of vital infrastructure so slow in Ireland?
That same spirit underpinned more recent investments, such as the Luas, Terminal 2 at Dublin Airport, the M6 Motorway and the Jack Lynch Tunnel in Cork. Each faced resistance, noise and negativity: each has proven its worth a hundred times over.
Today, we face new challenges but also a historic opportunity. I believe the State needs a new era of collective leadership across multiple sectors, one focused unflinchingly on delivering the infrastructure that will enable our economy and society to grow and succeed.
We must be ambitious in shaping our future by focusing on four key priorities:
- building a housing system that meets the needs of society;
- developing a public transport network that connects every city and region;
- creating digital infrastructure that keeps the State globally competitive, and;
- constructing a green energy grid to power a sustainable future.
Ireland is blessed with enormous wind energy resources both onshore and at sea. Our lack of investment in transmission and storage infrastructure means we still let much of that power go unused, because there is simply no way to store or deliver that energy to the people and businesses that need it.
This is not sustainable – either for business or for society.
Look to our neighbours in Britain. They have been investing boldly in infrastructure and integrating wind farms into the grid, ensuring reliable access to clean energy and a more resilient energy system overall. There is much we can learn and much we can achieve with shared ambition.
Tackling the Republic’s infrastructure deficit is not only a Government responsibility; it must become a national project, with business at its very heart. We have the capital, the ideas and the innovation. What we need now is brave cross-sectoral leadership and a willingness to prioritise long-term impact over short-term gain.
[ Tariffs will not break Ireland, but infrastructure just mightOpens in new window ]
This means moving beyond the next quarterly profit report or election cycle. It means thinking not just of the present, but of the Ireland we want to build for our children and grandchildren.
As president of Ibec, I am making this commitment: we will work with Government, across all industries and within every community, to lift infrastructure delivery to a new level and achieve meaningful, generational progress.
We must reject short-term solutions and aim for a positive legacy. We can be the generation that lays the foundations for the next 100 years.
Ardnacrusha was a project that lit up a nation – not only with power, but with purpose. I urge us all to channel that spirit, not to look back with nostalgia, but to look ahead with resolve.
Ireland’s future will not be built by chance, but by our collective choice. Let’s choose ambition. Let’s choose to build the Ireland we and future generations all deserve.
Colin Hunt is chief executive of AIB and newly appointed president of Ibec
