Ireland has just done something no other country has done: turned the EU AI Act into a functioning national enforcement mechanism. The Regulation of Artificial Intelligence Bill 2026, approved by the Irish Government last week, establishes ‘Oifig IS na hÉireann’ — the AI Office of Ireland — as an independent statutory body that will coordinate Irish implementation of the landmark EU legislation.

This matters because the EU AI Act, which entered into force in August 2024, is ambitious on paper. But it’s framework legislation — it sets risk-based obligations across the bloc, classifies AI systems as high-risk or not, and imposes requirements on providers and deployers. What it doesn’t include is the enforcement machinery. That’s left to member states. And Ireland just built that machinery first.

The bill gives Irish market surveillance authorities — including the Competition and Consumer Protection Commission — a full enforcement toolkit: the power to issue compliance notices, impose fines, and prosecute entities that violate the Act. It’s a technical regulation, meaning it doesn’t add new obligations beyond what the EU AI Act already requires. But it’s the critical infrastructure that makes those obligations real.

Ireland is also about to assume the presidency of the Council of the European Union from July to December this year. The timing is deliberate. As Minister for Enterprise Peter Burke put it: “AI is a transformative technology which offers extraordinary potential for our economy and citizens, but requires appropriate oversight and accountability to ensure people are protected.”

The UK, by contrast, is taking a different path — voluntary alignment, sector-specific guidance, no statutory AI office. The divergence between London and Dublin on AI governance is now concrete. For companies operating across both jurisdictions, the contrast is stark: in Ireland, a dedicated regulator with enforcement teeth; in the UK, a light-touch approach that relies on industry cooperation.

Which model works? We’ll find out in the enforcement.