Managing director and executive director respectively of International Development Ireland (IDI), almost all their consultancy and project management business takes place in countries most tourists tend to shy away from, such as Iran, Pakistan, Oman or Uzbekistan.

Deignan and Bowe rarely, if ever, seek publicity at home and this is the first time they have given an interview to an Irish newspaper. Both affable, the two men nonetheless politely decline to be photographed.

A former state-owned company, IDI was spun off about 10 years ago and has since spread its tentacles, as 53-year-old Deignan says, across the globe. The firm specialises in two main areas, corporate restructuring and economic development.

The former involves working on projects from banks to tractor factories, while it has undertaken economic development projects for the governments of a long list of countries including Jordan, Egypt, Albania and Turkmenistan. The company is currently project managing the development of a major business park in Bahrain.

In all, Deignan and Bowe reckon that IDI, wholly owned by them, has worked on over 300 projects in roughly 100 countries since 1989.

Deignan, who says that IDI's clients are "frequently" governments, describes the outfit as financially "conservative", pointing out that it has no debt on its books.

It also turns a decent profit. In 2004, the most recent year for which figures are available, it reported turnover of almost 10.2m and a pre-tax profit of 1.7m. While the books may be conservative, the projects are not necessarily so.

"We're not risk-averse, " says Deignan, who formerly worked with ICC Bank as head of marketing and strategy. "If we were, we wouldn't be in this business."

Deignan and Bowe don't believe their model is unique, but say it is unusual. The company has evolved from working on a purely consultative basis to implementing its own advice and recommendations on behalf of clients.

It brings in third-party consultants to work on projects, but will always have one or more of its own team members on the ground to head up each job.

"We see ourselves as delivering management solutions, " adds 56-year-old Bowe, who previously held positions with AIB, and also with ICC, where he helped establish its venture capital business.

IDI calls upon a deep pool of sector-specific consultants from other companies for each contract it secures, allowing it to pitch for a variety of projects.

One of its earlier successes was the development of a business park in the town of Mielec, southeastern Poland, whose 10,000 or so residents were almost totally reliant on one local employer that manufactured transport aircraft for neighbouring Russia.

When the Soviet Union crumbled, so did its business.

IDI suggested creating a business park and getting the aircraft manufacturer to diversify . . . into making golf carts. It worked. The business park is still on the go, employing 3,500 people.

While Deignan and Bowe point out that the company will never work in unstable countries, there have been close shaves along the way.

In the mid-1990s, IDI had to temporarily pull its six staff . . .

each with an armed guard . . .

from Lesotho overnight, after unrest threatened the country's stability, albeit temporarily. The staff were back within days, and Bowe says such situations are unusual.

"The Irish are accepted in most places, but you have to be conscious of the risks of putting people into different countries, " Bowe says. "We have no agenda when we go in."

But working in far-flung countries inevitably brings unusual demands. Corruption and backhanders are endemic in some of the economies in which IDI operates, but Deignan says the company has concluded work in countries notorious for such practices without ever having to succumb to bribery.

"That's something we have never engaged in, although I'm sure it has meant us losing out on being awarded some contracts, " says Deignan.

Working closely with governments also means the pair have established some highlevel contacts that Deignan believes have yet to be fully exploited. At the moment, IDI generally goes after 1mplus contracts, but it is trying to shift its focus towards fewer, but larger, projects.

IDI is also planning to establish new partnerships with major engineering and construction companies. One of the areas that Deignan hopes will expand its service base is the education sector, while Bowe also believes that Asia will provide an increasing base of projects focusing on bank restructuring.

"I think countries such as China, Vietnam and Indonesia will offer opportunities, " says Bowe. "It's all part of a cycle of trying to reform their economies, and sometimes the attitude of governments can undermine financial institutions to the degree that you may, for instance, have a large build up of badly performing loans."

At this stage, IDI's business would surely be of interest to competitors, but Deignan says there are no plans to sell up. "I think we're idealists, " he says. "The job is very rewarding."