Kerryman building Netflix billion-dollar US studio gets Ireland-US Council honour 

Customers enter the Apple store in Soho, New York, Maurice Regan's firm JT Magen carried out construction on the store, Apple's first in New York. Picture: Craig Warga/Bloomberg

The Kerryman who built the first ever Apple Store in New York has received the 2026 Excellence in International Business Award from the Ireland-US Council. 

Maurice Regan is the CEO of JT Magen, the US top 50 construction company he founded in 1992. The company was responsible for constructing the Apple Soho store in New York in 2002. Current projects include transforming a former US army base in New Jersey, Fort Monmouth, into a vast studio space for Netflix. A $1bn renovation to be completed in 2028 will see the former military facility transformed into 12 state-of-the-art soundstages totaling nearly 500,000 square feet,

On Friday, Mr Regan was presented with the busines award on behalf of the Council by US ambassador to Ireland, Edward S. Walsh, at the annual Ireland-US Council Midsummer Gala dinner in the Round Room of the Mansion House in Dublin on Friday.

“I would like to thank the Ireland-US Council for this recognition, which is in effect a tribute to my colleagues in our businesses who work so hard in the US and Ireland to deliver every day," said Mr Regan. "The ties that bind the US and Ireland are a tremendous asset to both nations and I welcome the Council’s ongoing work since JFK’s visit in 1963 to strengthen those connections.” 

US ambassador Walsh noted Mr Regan had initially planned to be an electrician: “Luckily for us all, he instead chose to study construction -- a decision that would ultimately reshape the skylines of some of America's greatest cities.”

Away from the construction industry, Mr Regan is a prominent supporter of Kerry GAA and is also a horse breeder, through his Newtown Anner stud farms in Kentucky, New York, and Clonmel.

Also honoured at the event were James Coffey of J Coffey Construction, and Niall O’Leary of Regeneron.

The Ireland-U.S. Council and Irish Arts Review Portraiture Award for 2026 was presented to artist Oliver Murphy for his painting, Lana. It forms part of the Royal Hibernian Academy’s Annual Exhibition.