TOP EXECUTIVES from a number of leading multinational companies in Ireland will feature in a new advertising campaign being launched today by IDA Ireland promoting the State as a destination for foreign investment.

Microsoft Ireland managing director Paul Rellis and Sheryl Sandberg, chief operating officer of social networking giant Facebook, are among a group of senior executives of US firms taking part in the campaign.

They will talk about the advantages that Ireland has to offer companies.

The campaign, which will be launched today by Tánaiste Mary Coughlan, will go live in the United States later this month and is expected to run for about six months.

It will feature television, internet, newspaper and poster slots.

At a time when the country is struggling to overcome the negative image presented by the crisis in the State banking sector, the campaign concentrates on Ireland’s “unique selling points”, built around a “talented and highly skilled workforce”.

The theme of the campaign, developed for the IDA by McConnells, is Ireland’s ability to bring the fresh thinking and the creativity central to innovation. “Innovation comes naturally” in Ireland according to the campaign tagline, stressing that Ireland’s workforce can play a central part in innovation.

The Government is understood to be keen to keep Ireland at the forefront of investors’ minds as they begin to consider foreign direct investment propositions after the recession. Ireland has traditionally secured a disproportionate share of US foreign direct investment.

Recent economic data have encouraged some commentators to believe that the US and key European economies are emerging from the recession.