Ireland is pursuing a “gateway to Europe” strategy for subsea telecoms cables, Minister for Communications Eamon Ryan pledged as he marked installation of one such link on the west coast.

Speaking at the landing ceremony for “IRIS”, a subsea telecoms cable between Galway and Iceland, Mr Ryan described it as “part of the new industrial revolution – one that combines high quality, digital infrastructure with renewable technology, infrastructure and skills”.

As Afloat reported in September 2020, The new cable, landing in Galway, will provide direct high-capacity links to Iceland with onward connectivity to Northern Europe via Denmark, he said. The cable system will greatly increase capacity and diversity of internet connections to Ireland, he said.

Ireland is “poised to become a key international connectivity hub between North America and Europe”, he and his junior communications minister Ossian Smyth said.

"it is the first subsea cable connected to Ireland that is not linked to Britain or North America"

“The IRIS cable enhances Ireland’s digital connectivity internationally, providing the essential factors needed by businesses to be able to compete globally and attract investment. This direct, high-capacity route to Iceland and through to Northern Europe provides opportunities for all businesses to extend their market reach,” Ryan said.

Mr Smyth described it as a “landmark in the history of Irish communications”, as it is the first subsea cable connected to Ireland that is not linked to Britain or North America.

He noted that Ireland has been an intercontinental communications hub since 1858, when the first transatlantic cable linking London and New York was routed through Ireland.

“This is the start of a strategic move by Ireland to connect directly to Northern and Southern Europe,” Smyth said, declaring that Ireland is “now open for business to further subsea cables”.

The landing station diversity in Ireland is “particularly advantageous”, the ministers noted, because the cable routes come from multiple directions, minimising the risk of simultaneous failure.

The IRIS cable is owned and operated by Farice. a company fully owned by the Icelandic Government, which contracted SubCom, a global subsea fibre optic cable system supply company, to install the cable system.