The council will monitor the implementation of Ireland’s national semiconductor strategy.

Ireland is establishing a new advisory council to help align the country’s chip sector with its national strategy, as advancements in AI place unprecedented pressure on the semiconductor industry.

The new council is set up to provide independent expert advice to the Government on developing the sector, and help shape policies that strengthen the industry’s competitiveness on a global scale.

Among its various roles, the council will monitor the implementation of Silicon Island, Ireland’s national strategy aimed at attracting large investments for semiconductor development, expected to create thousands of high-value jobs.

At the time of the strategy’s launch, the Government believed Ireland could support up to 34,500 new semiconductor roles by 2040.

The newly established council will also advise the Department of Enterprise on developments affecting the semiconductor sector, support collaboration and co-ordination across Government, enterprise agencies, industry and research organisations and advise on Ireland’s engagement with European semiconductor policy, including the European Chips Act.

The Advisory Council on the Semiconductor Sector – set up to run for three years – is chaired by Intel’s former senior vice-president Dr Ann Kelleher and also includes Mike Morrissey, senior director at Analog Devices, Qualcomm senior executive Colin Ryan and Equal1 CEO Jason Lynch among others.

The advisors are also expected to utilise their industry expertise to identify emerging opportunities, challenges and risks affecting the sector and provide strategic recommendations to support the continued growth and competitiveness of Ireland’s semiconductor ecosystem.

“The [semiconductor] sector is strategically important to Ireland’s economic future, and the Council’s expertise will help guide the next phase of growth, innovation and international competitiveness,” said Minister for Enterprise, Tourism and Employment, Peter Burke TD.

“By bringing together leaders from industry, research and investment, we are creating a strong platform to support collaboration, inform policy and ensure Ireland is well positioned to seize emerging opportunities in this rapidly evolving sector.”

Here’s who is heading the advisory council:

Ann Kelleher

Dr Kelleher is the former senior vice-president of technology development at Intel. During her 30-year career at the company, she has held senior engineering and leadership roles across its Irish and international operations, including taking charge of the company’s global technology development programmes and advanced semiconductor process technologies.

“Ireland has built world-class capabilities in semiconductors over many decades. I look forward to working with Council members and stakeholders across industry, academia and Government to help deliver the ambitions of Silicon Island and further strengthen Ireland’s position within the global semiconductor ecosystem,” Kelleher said.

Mike Morrissey

Morrissey is the senior director of ADI Catalyst at Analog Devices, a collaboration hub for client companies looking to commercialise faster and optimise their revenue generation.

Ruth Cotter

Cotter is a senior vice-president and the chief administrative officer at US chips giant AMD, leading the company’s integrated, enterprise-wide corporate operations.

She has led major acquisitions for the company, including Xilinx, the largest semiconductor transaction of its time, and continues to play a key role in companywide transformation initiatives, AMD said.

Colin Ryan

Ryan is the executive vice president, and chief strategy and corporate development officer at Qualcomm. In this role, he explores strategies that drive business expansion, and manages mergers and acquisitions as well as the investments Qualcomm makes.

Conor Ryan

Ryan has spent more than 30 years at Applied Materials, across executive positions leading sites across the world. In his current role, he heads applied global services at the company as its group vice president.

Seán Mitchell

Mitchell is the chairperson at chief commercial officer at Ubotica Technologies, the Irish space-tech building an AI-powered platform used in maritime security. Its technology has deployed more than 30 Earth observation models so far and run “hundreds of thousands” of AI inferences in orbit.

The company recently raised $11m in a round led by Act Venture Capital and Greencode Ventures, with participation from existing investor Atlantic Bridge.

Jason Lynch

Lynch is the CEO of Dublin-based quantum start-up Equal1, behind Bell-1, the first-ever Irish-made quantum computer and according to the company, the world’s first silicon-based quantum server designed for data centres and high-performance computing.

Prior to starting his company, Lynch led strategy, venture creation and commercial execution for new growth opportunities at Analog Devices.

Elaine Coughlan

Coughlan is a founder and managing partner at Atlantic Bridge and has 30 years of experience in industry as a founder, executive and investor scaling technology companies. She was previously on the board of Enterprise Ireland and was appointed to the British Patient Capital’s £800m Future Fund Breakthrough in 2022.

Leonard Hobbs

Hobbs is the government liaison at MIDAS, the Irish industry association for microelectronics and electronic systems design. He has 25 years of experience at Intel, prior to which, he served as the director for research and innovation a Trinity College Dublin.

Denis Doyle

Dr Doyle is the chairperson of Tyndall National Institute and a board member at IDA Ireland. He was formerly the vice president and general manager at Analog Devices.

Earlier this year, Tyndall launched a new five-year strategy aimed at helping develop Ireland’s semiconductor capabilities.

Ronan Farrell

Farrell is currently the vice president of academic and registrar functions and a professor in the department of electronic engineering at Maynooth University.

Don’t miss out on the knowledge you need to succeed. Sign up for the Daily Brief, Silicon Republic’s digest of need-to-know sci-tech news.