Micheál Martin is in the United States to promote opportunities for the Republic's domestic players, writes Arthur Beesley, Senior Business Correspondent, in Boston

Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment Micheál Martin may be feeling the heat over the nursing home charges debacle, but there was not a hint of this pressure as he schmoozed for Ireland this week on a trade visit to the United States.

As Irish companies make fresh forays into the US market, Martin delivered an upbeat message about their readiness for the fray during a hectic round of meetings and fancy meals in New York, Washington and Boston.

It's not quite a re-run of the dotcom extravaganza, but small and medium-sized Irish firms are ramping up their activities here as major US groups start investing again after the downturn.

However, Irish companies seeking a foothold in the vast US market must contend with a weak dollar, a tighter attitude to venture capital and a more measured approach to deal-making.

The day of the instant millionaire is gone. But, while fast fortunes are unlikely in chastened times, the number of indigenous Irish firms with offices in the US has increased by 30 to more than 200 in the past year.

According to the Americas director for Enterprise Ireland, Marina Donohoe, the new activity is being driven by tech start-ups, life-science and biotechnology firms, and firms scaling back in the market after a period of retrenchment.

A case in point is WBT Systems, a Dublin-based company that makes software for e-learning companies, which signed a $1 million (€0.78 million)-plus contract this week with the World Bank in Washington.

WBT had 24 people in the US when the boom was at its height but reduced that to just four as conditions toughened. The company has recruited 10 sales people in the past year as a "decent flow" of business came back.

"For the last couple of years, we've been slowly but steadily building up again. Though people are spending money now, they're spending it in a different way. You're not going to sign a big deal on day one," according to Duncan Lennox, WBT chief technology officer.

As part of the effort to boost the profile of Irish businesses in the United States, Martin spent time this week at the National Institute for Health (NIH) in Maryland, a Nobel-grade research hothouse that has been to the fore in the development of treatments for mental illness, cancer and AIDS.

Irish companies such as Biotrin and Trinity Biotech have already established a commercial relationship with the NIH, whose annual research budget is in the order of $28 billion.

In a complex market that drives the forces of international capitalism, big opportunities are also emerging from the increased regulation of US business after the scandals at Enron and WorldCom.

A telling example is Qumas, a Cork-based firm specialising in compliance software, which aspires to float on the Nasdaq exchange in 2008. The company publicised major deals this week with the Johnson & Johnson conglomerate and Fidelity, the giant mutual fund group.

Qumas is one of a select number of companies slated for a special round of aid from Enterprise Ireland in a new business strategy to be initiated next week. The idea is to help the company to increase its "scale" in international markets.

According to Martin, the objective will be to build scale internationally for companies so that they can retain a high level of employment and research activity in the Republic.

The Minister is also keen to harness opportunities for indigenous companies from the multinationals based in the Republic.

This point is taken up by Creganna, a Galway medical devices maker, which is likely to be part of the new Enterprise Ireland fast-track plan.

"What I would love to see is a higher level of cross-leveraging between the Enterprise Ireland reach and the IDA's," says Alan Crean of Creganna. "That would help indigenous access to multinational corporations.

They do that to some extent. I think there would be a more powerful effect if they were better combined."

If the euphoric days of the boom were characterised by excess as whippersnapper companies burned cash without making profits, the business mood today is far less flamboyant.

According to Donohoe, some Irish companies setting up operations in the US today have better management systems than some of their forebears.

"There was a naivety among Irish companies that they could do it without their own staff."

The focus now is on recruiting local sales teams led by US-based Irish managers; informing influential analyst firms such as Gartner, Forrester and Yankee about the business; and appealing to the trade press in each sector.

Another vogue is to develop partnerships with US-owned firms to access public procurement contracts, a massive source of business for US industry.

While acknowledging that the dollar's weakness - down 37 per cent since 2002 - reduces revenues from US business, Donohoe argues that that same factor can cut the cost of doing business in the US.

"We would argue that now is the best time to come into the market."

However, companies report that venture capitalists are much fussier today when it comes to investing in start-up firms.

In addition, business people say quietly that the massive growth in Irish property deals in Britain, the US and Europe has deprived many start-ups of an investment channel that could be relied upon only a short time ago.

At the end of the day, trade statistics prove the point that what is now under way is a catch-up game to restore the ground lost since the downturn. Sales from all Irish-based companies, including multinationals, to the US fell by 2.5 per cent last year to $16.5 billion. Based on figures for 2003, sales from Enterprise Ireland client companies amount to some $1.135 billion. With technology exporters hit badly by the US downturn, that level of business was up by only 0.8 per cent on the previous year.

If such figures prove the point that the Republic can never be immune to the vagaries of the international market, Donohoe points to a higher level of inquiries from Irish companies as evidence that the US is again the focus of attention.

Businessman Cathal McGloin, former chief executive of Performix Technologies, sees just cause for the renewal of interest. "We need to encourage them to come back over to look at this market."

But success is never guaranteed in the world of US business. McGloin recalls the time in 2000 when 13 Irish tech companies were crammed into Enterprise Ireland's incubation centre in Boston. Only two of those companies remain active in the Boston market today, he says.