MetroLink’s successful European Market Engagement

The MetroLink programme team, led by Programme Director, Dr. Sean Sweeney, has been engaging with industry leaders through a series of international market engagement events, designed to share project updates, highlight opportunities, and foster early collaboration with potential partners.

So far, four events have been successfully completed in Dublin, London, Paris, and most recently Milan and Berlin, with Vienna, Madrid, and Istanbul to follow. 

The market engagement programme is proving to be a very worthwhile exercise, with feedback strikingly positive and several firms already expressing their intention to tender. 

Some highlights:

Over 1,000 members of the Tier-1 market reached so far, across three major capital cities, with attendance levels often at capacity.
In Paris, more than 80 attended the event at the Irish Embassy, with several one-to-one meetings held with tier-one contractors.
In Milan, around 70 market representatives joined the briefing, showing strong interest from highly capable firms in follow on one-to-one sessions– a clear sign of the depth of international expertise MetroLink is attracting.

Significant momentum online for MetroLink has been generated alongside the events themselves, with over 33,000 impressions on LinkedIn posts covering the Dublin and London engagements.

These important market activities have been reinforced by strong political backing, with Taoiseach Micheál Martin, Tánaiste Simon Harris, and Minister for Transport Darragh O’Brien T.D. all actively engaged with the programme, highlighting MetroLink as a nation-building project. The British Minister of State for Rail, Lord Hendy of Richmond Hill CBE, also supported the London event

As the events continue across Europe, we are encouraged by the strong response, which makes it clear that MetroLink – Ireland’s first metro system – is a project the market is eager to be part of.

More than a transport scheme, MetroLink is a keystone priority under Ireland’s National Development Plan and is expected to deliver 8,000 direct construction jobs and a further 2,500–3,000 indirect jobs each year, while transforming how people move around Dublin and beyond. With planning, funding, and political support firmly in place, Ireland is sending a clear message: MetroLink means business.

Published: 19th September 2025