LAST UPDATE | 2 Jul 2025

Christina Finn reports from Tokyo

IRELAND HOUSE IN Tokyo is the most expensive capital project the Irish government has undertaken outside the island of Ireland.

The building, which will hold the new embassy, the ambassador’s residence as well as the hubs for Enterprise Ireland, the IDA and Bord Bia, was officially launched today by Taoiseach Micheál Martin.

In 2017, the government decided to develop a new Ireland House in Japan to showcase and promote Ireland. The total cost of the project to date is €25.9 million , though the Department of Foreign Affairs said the final cost is expected to be in the region of €27.4 million, making it the most expensive building constructed outside the state. 

In April 2025, in response to a parliamentary question, Tánaiste and Foreign Affairs Minister Simon Harris put the costs at €20.5 million, though it was stated the accounts were still being finalised.

However, just three months later, the spend on the project has jumped by over €7 million. 

The overall cost will be borne from both the Department of Foreign Affairs and the Department of Enterprise. 

Questions have been raised in the past about the cost, but speaking today Taoiseach Micheál Martin said it had been just three years since he turned the sod on the project. 

Taoiseach turning the sod on the project three years ago. PA PA

Batting away the criticisms about the cost in 2020, Brendan Rogers, the former deputy secretary general of the Department of Foreign Affairs, told the Business Post that money spent was fully justified.

“This will represent Ireland to the Japanese nation,” he said, stating that creating a good impression was extremely important when it came to doing business in Asia.

Henry J Lyons, a Dublin architectural firm, won the design competition for the project five years ago. 

Peter McGovern, architect and director of the firm told The Journal that the project is about integrating the Irish tower house and the very traditional Japanese timber joinery  in one contemporary fusion. 

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I Henry J Lyons Henry J Lyons

“Tokyo is a very particular kind of city, and it’s quite different than Dublin. Context is less important in terms of the architectural language. So this building is really quite distinctive own identity,” he said. 

“I think you’ve seen everybody who comes into the building, take an intake of breath. It is stunning. The light quality, the way the spaces flow, are all very positive. And I think that this is the way we should be presenting ourselves, particularly on foreign soils, as a confident nation, who have a real place in the world,” he added. 

Speaking today at Ireland House, the Taoiseach said the Irish government’s decision to build Ireland House Tokyo is a very tangible sign of Ireland’s commitment to the relationship with Japan.

He said the building will “serve as a platform for Team Ireland to continue their very valuable work here in Tokyo for decades to come.”