LIFE OF REILLY

ASKED how much his salary has grown since he worked as a £10,000 per year, goods inwards manager in a warehouse on the North Road, Finglas, six years ago, Joe Reilly just smiles.

Joe is 30 years old, he got married last year and his wife is due to give birth to the couple's first child in July.

When he met The Irish Times in a conference room on the Intel campus in Leixlip, Co Kildare, he was dressed comfortably, was carrying a Filofax packed with lists and charts, and seemed as eager to talk about how his career was progressing as he obviously was to return to his work.

Outlining his journey from being a Leaving Certificate student in Finglas to being a successful executive with a multinational engaged in seemingly unstoppable growth, Joe's life story sounded like something dreamt up by the IDA Ireland.

Intel is the world's largest manufacturer of semiconductor chips. Founded in California in 1968, it developed a microprocessor in 1971 which became essential to the desktop personal computers revolution. As the information technology revolution swept the globe, Intel was at the forefront of producing better and better microchips.

In 1989 the corporation decided to locate its European headquarters in Ireland, and among the reasons for its decision were Ireland's membership of the EU, and the number and quality of young graduates here.

Meanwhile, back in the early 1980s, Joe Reilly was living in Finglas and attending Collaiste Eoin, on the Cappagh Road. He sat his Leaving Cert in 1984.

"After I left school I did a few different things, FAS courses, that sort of thing. I got a job with T.P. Whelehan's, on the North Road, and I worked there for five years."

However soon after starting to work with the pharmaceuticals and agrichemicals distributor, Joe started a diploma course in Purchasing and Materials Management, at the College of Commerce, Rathmines, going to classes two nights a week for four years.

"It wasn't easy. It got to be a bit of a drag," he says now. But it paid off.

Before he finished his final year Intel had given him a job. It was 1990 and he found himself working along with 70 to 80 employees, in the temporary Intel plant at Blanchardstown, Co Dublin.

The first permanent Intel plant at Leixlip was under construction at the time. About a year after he joined the company Joe moved to the completed plant at Leixlip. He moved up through the grades. The plant expanded. Three years later, by now a materials controller, Joe was sent to Albequerque in the US to train for the new microchip fabrication facility, FAB 10, which was due to open at the Leixlip site.

"There was no such factory in Ireland at the time so we had to go to the US to train. Six months later I came back and helped with setting up the first Intel fabrication facility in Europe."

He also moved to the house in Lucan, Co Dublin, where he now lives with his wife.

AFTER his return from the US he worked his way up to being senior buyer. In the last three months he has been appointed to a new position, as general buyer for the new fabrication plant, FAB 14, currently under construction at Leixlip.

All he will say about his salary is that it has "increased significantly since I came to Intel".

"My career has moved at a fast rate since I finished my diploma," he continues. "I'm delighted I did that course."

He says that very few people on the street in Finglas where he grew up went on to college after school. "Some people did well but a lot of people didn't get the break. I was lucky. I got the break."

He attributes his desire to go to college to his parents. "They wanted to see us do well. There was always lots of encouragement from the both of them."