Ericsson today (Tuesday) announced plans to relocate its Athlone Research and Development (R&D) site to a new, state-of-the-art facility on the nearby IDA Ireland campus. Pictured (L-R): Mary Buckley, Executive Director, IDA, Peter Burke TD, Minister for Enterprise, Tourism and Employment of Ireland, Jenny Lindqvist, SVP & Head of Cloud Software & Services, Ericsson and John Landy, Head of R&D Site Athlone, Ericsson. Photo: Michael Dillon.

Ericsson announces move to new purpose-built premises in Athlone

Adrian Cusack

Published: Tue 13 Oct 2026, 2:22 PM

Athlone's largest multinational employer has confirmed it will be moving to a new base in the town.

This afternoon (Tuesday), Ericsson formally announced it will be relocating from its long-established premises in Cornamaddy to a new purpose-built facility on the IDA Ireland campus in Garrycastle.

The company's Athlone base serves as its global research and development (R&D) headquarters, and Ericsson said this week that the move represents "a significant milestone in our longstanding partnership with Ireland".

More than 1,300 people are employed at Ericsson's Athlone base. News of the proposed move was first communicated to staff and reported in the Westmeath Independent last December, but this week's announcement makes it official.

A spokesperson for Ericsson said the move is provisionally expected to be completed by 2029, and it's not believed the relocation to Garrycastle will have any impact on the number of people employed here by the company.

The Swedish-headquartered firm began its association with Athlone when it opened a factory here in 1974.

The company said its new premises would "strengthen Ericsson Athlone’s role as a strategic global hub for programmable and autonomous networks," and would build on its investment of "more than €3 billion" in the town since 2000.

Enterprise Minister Peter Burke "warmly welcomed" Ericsson’s "continued commitment to Athlone" with the relocation of its R&D centre to a new local site.

The Westmeath Fine Gael representative added: "This investment reflects the confidence that leading international companies have in Ireland’s business environment, skilled talent base, and innovation ecosystem.

"Ericsson has been an important partner in Ireland’s success story for more than 50 years, and this announcement further cements the Athlone site’s position as a centre of excellence for advanced research and development with global impact."

Athlone Minister of State Kevin ‘Boxer’ Moran also welcomed the announcement, describing it as "absolutely fantastic news" for Athlone, Westmeath, and the entire Midlands region.

"Ericsson has been part of the fabric of Athlone for decades," said ‘Boxer’.

"It has provided high-quality employment, supported families and helped establish our town as a recognised centre of technological excellence. This week’s announcement takes that relationship to an entirely new level.

"This is not simply a good news story for Ericsson. It is a major statement about Athlone’s future," added ‘Boxer’.

"We have the talent, the expertise, the educational infrastructure and the ambition to compete with the very best locations in the world."

Ericsson said the new Athlone site will house its "global R&D teams responsible for creating and delivering AI-driven capabilities to control, monitor, configure and automate telecom networks".

Jenny Lindqvist, Senior Vice President and Head of Business Area Cloud Software and Services at Ericsson, said: "Our commitment to Athlone reflects the strength of Ireland’s talent, collaborative innovation environment, and our shared ambition to lead the future of secure and intelligent networks."

Looking ahead, Ericsson said the new R&D headquarters would strengthen its capabilities in Ireland, and that it would also "deepen collaboration with academic and industry partners, and accelerate the development of technologies essential for digital transformation".

Mary Buckley, Executive Director of IDA Ireland, commented: "Ericsson’s decision to relocate its global R&D headquarters in Athlone, a key centre for the development and delivery of AI-enabled software and autonomous network solutions, to a new state-of-the-art facility at the IDA Ireland Business and Technology Park is a superb endorsement of Ireland’s position as a leading location for technology innovation.

"With more than €3 billion invested in Athlone since 2000, Ericsson has made a really important contribution to the region’s economy and will continue to be an integral part of its technology ecosystem. I wish the team continued success."