Experienced engineering company takes Irish engineering continent-wide

Dornan Engineering, which celebrates its 55th anniversary in 2021, has long been a part of Ireland’s engineering industry. Over the past 10 years, the Cork-based company has spread its wings by working on projects for multinational companies across Europe.

Micheál O’Connor, Dornan’s Managing Director, said, “Ireland’s engineering skill set has made the country highly competitive on the worldwide stage. Irish engineers have proven themselves to be uniquely skilled in fields such as data centers and life sciences, making them qualified to handle any type of project in these niches – no matter where their potential clients are based.

“Ireland has been fortunate in that it is one of eight hubs globally where there is a heavy concentration of life sciences. That industry has been in Ireland for about 50 years,” O’Connor added.

Dornan began working in mainland Europe in the late 2000s. Over the past 20 years, this region has grown in importance to the company, eventually becoming its primary market. About 50 percent of Dornan’s business today takes place in continental Europe, with the remaining half split equally between Ireland and the United Kingdom.

“We follow a strategy of following our clients. If our clients are looking to move into European markets and looking to expand developments in European countries, then we are happy to support our clients in those geographies,” O’Connor said.

As of mid-2021, Dornan was working on numerous large-scale projects in Europe, with an emphasis on pharma, data centers, and life sciences. Though the company does not have a physical presence in the United States, it works closely with American entities operating in Europe. In fact, 60-70 percent of Dornan’s business is tied to USA-based clients.

O’Connor said one of the main challenges facing Irish engineering companies as they work to support multinational clients today is the need for employee diversity.

“As an industry, we need to improve the gender balance in construction – not just in the profession, but also at a craft and trade level. We are very fortunate to see some female apprentices in our business, and that is an area we want to grow and support,” he said.

He singled out employee development as another issue Ireland’s engineering industry needs to address in order to preserve its status as a global market leader.

“For Ireland to remain competitive and maintain the unique skill set that it has, it really needs to continue to focus on education and training in particular,” O’Connor said.

O’Connor is a relative newcomer to the managing director position at Dornan. In this role, he aims to preserve the company’s position in the Irish engineering industry – and the engineering industry of Europe as a whole – while taking its quality standards to an even higher level.

In pursuit of these goals, O’Connor hopes to improve Dornan’s training and development efforts, make it a more attractive employer to recent college graduates, and work with schools and universities to broaden student interest in STEM subjects.

While Dornan will continue to work in Ireland and the UK, O’Connor said he expects the business to focus on attracting new partners in mainland Europe going forward. As the company enters new markets and pursues new clients, O’Connor attributed Dornan’s continued success to its employees.

“Our people have been exceptionally flexible and incredibly dedicated – especially in the last 14 or 15 months in the face of COVID-19 and the challenges that placed on us,” he said.