Pat O’Connor says he has never had so many highly qualified graduates eager to join his technology start-up. Founded in 2017, Dublin-based Vrai specialises in analysing data from virtual-reality simulation exercises to improve training for clients that include the British Army, defence and offshore energy groups. Demand for its services is booming amid higher military spending across Europe.

“We’ve never had more applicants for any role,” says O’Connor, noting that the company he co-founded and runs has seen a “tipping point” in the past six to eight months.

The Irish Defence Forces veteran says the talent is following the money as investors have poured more capital into companies developing technologies for military and civil applications in the three years since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.