Enterprise Ireland funds company that partnered with firms accused of complicity in genocide

A company funded by Enterprise Ireland – with more than €800,000 public cash behind it – has partnered with at least three international arms manufacturers accused of complicity in Israel's genocide in Gaza.

VRAI – a member of the Irish Defence and Security Association which lobbies government for a militarised Irish economy – received Enterprise Ireland funding while partnering with BAE Systems, Rheinmetall and Kongsberg Defence and Aerospace.

Each of these major arms companies are accused of complicity in Palestinian genocide, while VRAI has also partnered with the RAF – responsible for hundreds of secretive surveillance flights over Gaza.

Backed since at least 2019

Former Irish soldier Pat O'Connor heads VRAI and its other founder is former film visual effects artist Niall Campion.

VRAI received €818,609.48 from Enterprise Ireland since 2019, according to figures released to The Ditch under freedom of information legislation. 

This included €125,000.00 in 2019, €388,843.26 in 2020, €60,506.22 in 2021, €134,475.00 in 2022, €21,281.53 in 2023, €38,543.47 in 2024 and €49,960.00 in 2025. 

Enterprise Ireland now owns 59,680 A2 shares in the company. 

VRAI specialises in virtual reality training products. 

It received several of the Enterprise Ireland payments while engaged in a commercial partnership with Britain’s largest arms manufacturer BAE Systems.

VRAI entered into the partnership in 2022 and it ran till 2024 when the UN warned that BAE Systems’ continued weapons sales to Israel risked complicity in serious human rights violations, including genocide in Gaza. 

BAE systems has also sold spytech to Tunisia, Saudi Arabia, Oman and the United Arab Emirates, Novara Media reported.  

VRAI has had other partnerships with companies accused of complicity in genocide. 

Last year it announced a commercial partnership with German arms manufacturer Rheinmetall.

It’s the country's largest weapons dealer and a contractor to the Israel Defense Forces (IDF). This April it was subject of protests over what demonstrators said is complicity in genocide. The same UN release that warned BAE of potential complicity in genocide also warned Rheinteall. 

Another collaborator is Kongsberg Defence and Aerospace which VRAI worked with to provide equipment to Ireland’s defence forces. 

Kongsberg owns part of Nammo, a major arms manufacturer whose weaponry has been used by the IDF in Gaza, and the company collaborates with Israeli weapons manufacturer Rafael to produce spike missiles. 

VRAI has also had contracts with the RAF, which is accused of complicity in Israel's genocide over hundreds of surveillance flights from RAF Akrotiri in Cyprus since December 2023, as reported by Declassified UK.

These included 24 flights in the two weeks around Israel's Nuseirat refugee camp attack which killed 274 Palestinians. VRAI won a contract with the British Ministry of Defence in 2024 worth £288,000, providing it with an “MRLS tactical capability trainer”.

Enterprise Ireland has backed VRAI since at least 2019, with the state agency participating in a €1.2 million seed round in 2020 along with other private investors, as well as another €5 million round in February 2025. 

Enterprise Ireland and VRAI have been contacted for comment.