Investments into manufacturing and services sectors in Ireland

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So, we already have a thread about Irish Economy, I just thought it would be nice to have a thread about foreign, and Irish companies investing or expanding in Ireland, I'll start with a first article

100 new technology jobs at Fidelity

Monday, 14 February 2011

Fidelity Investments has announced plans to add 100 new technology jobs at its facilities in Galway and Dublin.

Financial services group Fidelity Investments has announced plans to add 100 new technology jobs over the next three years at its facilities in Galway and Dublin.

The €11m investment is being backed by IDA Ireland. The new jobs will be part of Fidelity Technology Group, which is responsible for the company's technology research, services and operations.

The new employees will be working in areas such as software development, database development and systems analysis. Fidelity set up in Ireland in 1996 and currently employs 240 people in Galway and Dublin.

'By expanding here, Fidelity is making a strategic, long-term decision to invest in a region with a well-educated, highly skilled workforce from which we can draw the quality talent needed to provide services across the firm, ' said Fidelity's senior vice president Julia Davenport.

'The addition of 100 highly skilled technology jobs is an excellent endorsement of Ireland's flexible workforce,' said IDA Ireland CEO Barry O'Leary.

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150 Paypal jobs in Dublin, 50 AMS Athlone jobs

PayPal has announced 150 new jobs at its Dublin operations, while a US medical tecnology firm is creating 50 new jobs in Athlone.

Online payments company PayPal has announced 150 new jobs at its European operations and customer service headquarters in Blanchardstown in Dublin.

The company, which is owned by EBay, says the new jobs will be in PayPal's rapidly-growing European business.

It is looking for full-time and part-time positions in customer service for people fluent in English and a second European language.

PayPal already employs 1,200 people at its European centre of excellence in Blanchardstown.
PayPal set up operations in Dublin in 2003. In 2009, it secured an investment of €15m from IDA Ireland to open its centre of excellence in Blanchardstown. The Dublin centre manages all direct customer contact for PayPal's businesses across Europe.

Medical technology jobs boost for Athlone

50 jobs are to be created in the midlands by a US medical technology company, which is to establish a manufacturing operation in Athlone.

American Medical Systems Holdings (AMS) makes medical devices for the treatment of urological and pelvic conditions. The company, which is investing €4.6m in the venture, says it is also planning future expansion. The IDA is backing the project.

The new factory will manufacture the company's mesh products used in female
continence products and pelvic floor repair as well as some male continence products.

The Athlone plant is AMS's first manufacturing operation outside of the US.

The company says a key reason for it choosing Athlone as a location was the cluster of leading life science companies here, which provides an opportunity for partnership.

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NAMA central to €99.9m Google D4 property deal

By Laura Noonan

Friday February 18 2011

THE National Asset Management Agency (NAMA) yesterday claimed its first public victory in the property market, announcing the "intrinsic role" it had played in the €99.9m sale of the Montevetro building to internet giant Google.

In a statement, Nama also said that it had recovered "in excess" of the original amount it paid for the Montevetro loan plus the additional cash it gave Real Estate Opportunities (Reo) to complete the project.

Market sources believe the taxpayer will still take a heavy hit on the 210,000 sq ft Montevetro project, since the original loan was advanced by almost-nationalised AIB, which is understood to have suffered a significant haircut when the loan moved to Nama.

Nama's announcement on Montevetro marked the agency's first public commentary on an individual asset sale and came as both Google and Reo issued announcements on the deal, which will give Google space for 2,000 extra workers.

In a statement, Nama said the completion and sale of the building demonstrated the "positive potential of Nama to support the commercial property market in Ireland without compromising its objective of recovering money owed to the taxpayer".

Property market sources said that Treasury Holdings-owned Reo had achieved an above market rate for Montevetro, which commanded €35 per sq ft against the €32.50 for "prime" Dublin offices revealed by the latest CBRE office market survey.

Sources added, however, that the Montevetro deal was a "special purchaser" arrangement because Google had a particular interest in a building on that site since the online giant already has a significant operation across the road at the Gasworks.

"You'd always get more from a special purchase," one added.

Google already employs 1,600 people at its Europe, Middle East and Asia (EMEA) headquarters in Dublin, spread across three sites in the Gasworks, Gordon House and East Point.

A company spokeswoman yesterday said all existing sites would be kept but insisted that "does not mean" Google will take on 2,000 extra staff.

In a statement, Google Ireland boss John Herlihy said the internet giant was "at capacity" at its current EMEA headquarters in Dublin and would "relocate" some existing staff to Montevetro.

"Acquiring Montevetro also means we have the space and flexibility to support future operations," he added. Earlier this year, Google confirmed it was looking to hire an extra 1,000 people in Europe -- many now expect a significant percentage of these new jobs to come to Montevetro.

In a stock market statement, Reo confirmed Google had initially approached the company about leasing Montevetro but had then asked if it could buy the building "outright".

- Laura Noonan

Irish Independent

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Some good news:

Ireland second most attractive country for FDI

Updated: 14:56, Friday, 25 February 2011

A new survey suggests that Ireland is the second most attractive country globally for foreign direct investment.

A new survey suggests that Ireland is the second most attractive country globally for foreign direct investment.

The National Irish Bank/fDi Intelligence inward investment performance monitor for 2010 shows that Singapore is still the most popular destination, with Thailand coming in third place.

The monitor shows that the number of FDI projects coming to Ireland last year increased by 15%, with a corresponding increase in the rate of job creation.

National Irish Bank noted that the quality of the investments was high, with Ireland very successful in attracting research and development projects. Ireland came fifth in this regard, behind Finland, Taiwan, Israel and Puerto Rico. 15% of last year's projects also saw companies setting up their headquarters here.

NIB says that despite the economic crisis, there are still a number of reasons why Ireland manages to attract so much foreign direction investment. These include the country's highly skilled workforce, its low corporation tax rate and improvements in cost competitiveness.

2010 was another good year for FDI into Ireland, and 2011 has started well,' commented NIB's chief economist Ronnie O'Toole.

'We continue to see a steady flow of mid-sized projects, particularly in services industries such as software and customer support, though also with some high quality manufacturing projects,' he added.

This is very good news, I think the rest of this year will be very surprising (in a good way) for Ireland's economy

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Chill.ie to create 100 jobs in Dublin

Updated: 14:56, Friday, 25 February 2011

Online insurance provider Chill.ie is to create 100 new jobs over the next three years at its South Dublin base.

The jobs will be created as the company plans to grow online sales of a range of insurance products.

Chill Insurance was launched as the internet arm of insurance broker Power Lynch and Associates, a 40-year old business based in South Dublin.

The company is anticipating an increase in online business. Chill.ie expects the volume of internet business to double over the next year alone as customers shop online for cheaper insurance deals.

The company says it will hire 100 staff over the next three years in line with that expansion.

Recruitment will begin immediately for a mixture of insurance, technology and back office roles to cope with an increased volume of business and higher traffic through the company's website and its call centre in Blackrock.

The company currently employs 60 staff but this is expected to grow to 160 by 2014 selling a range of insurance from home and motor to life and travel insurance.

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Jobs boosts for Offaly and Newry

Updated: 11:51, Wednesday, 2 March 2011

A medical devices company is to provide 55 new jobs over five years in Co Offaly.

Kelcourt Plastics, a California-based component supplier, has announced plans to establish a new medical tubing manufacturing operation in Tullamore with the support of IDA Ireland. Kelcourt Plastics is a division of US-based PPC Industries.

The Irish operation will also set up a product development team to work closely with customers' research and development teams on new products.

The specialised tubing that will be manufactured at the plant will be used in hundreds of medical products including anesthesia, urology, cardiology, surgery, IV systems and emergency medicine.

Invest NI to back First Derivatives expansion

Northern Ireland financial software group First Derivatives says it has secured funding from the North's development agency Invest Northern Ireland to help it expand its capital markets consulting business.

Newry-based First Derivatives says the £4.3m from Invest NI will help it to create 359 new jobs over the next three years.

'The grant will enhance the operational infrastructure and near shore capabilities necessary to support the increasing demand for its consulting services,' the company said.

The company provides computer software, risk management systems and consulting services to some of the worlds largest financial institutions.

First Derivatives chief executive Brian Conlon said he expected some of the highly skilled jobs to be taken up by people from the Republic.

This expansion brings the total employment at First Derivatives group to over 900.

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Shannon partnership to create 170 jobs

170 jobs are to be created in Co Clare by two firms who will design and manufacture protective coverings.

170 jobs are to be created in Co Clare in two companies who will design and manufacture protective coverings for mobile phones and other hand held devices.

US company Zagg, which is headquartered in Utah, is to base its European expansion out of the Shannon Free Zone with the creation of 40 jobs. Local company Cregg will create the remainder of the jobs, primarily in manufacturing.

Zagg makes transparent films to cover screens and fashion-savvy covers and other protective coverings to keep devices such as mobile phones and iPads new looking.

It is setting up a design, administration and sales and marketing at Shannon which will employ 40 people. It has contracted local outsourcing company Cregg Logistics, a substantial employer in Shannon, to manufacture its products and that company plans to create a further 130 positions.

Zagg says there are many reasons for choosing Shannon, but Ireland's competitive 12.5% corporation tax rate, 'definitely sealed the deal'.

Zagg hopes to more than double the 170 jobs being announced today by the end of 2014. Zagg had a turnover of $76m last year, having doubled its turnover every year since it was formed in 2005. It is listed on the Nasdaq in New York.

The Minister for Enterprise and Employment, Richard Bruton, says today's announcement shows there are still many positives to the Irish economy.

Today's new jobs are being supported with grant aid from the Government through Shannon Development.

[Seravia]

http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/...294670360.html

Technology giant HP plans to create 50 new jobs at its base in Galway.

Martin Murphy, the group’s managing director for Ireland, said yesterday the multinational had decided to add an extra 50 jobs to its operations in Galway after filling ahead of schedule 105 new posts that it announced last year. The jobs will be for high-tech graduates and engineers, and will be in its Galway centre for the development of cloud computing (offsite data storage).

Good news.

[Seravia]

http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/...294910421.html

APEX FUND Services is to create 50 jobs in the Republic over the next 18 months when a new office opens in Dublin.

The company is one of the world’s largest independent global fund administration businesses.

Apex, which set up an office in Cork four years ago, said it had successfully recruited the highly skilled financial services staff required to develop its business in Ireland.

Apex managing director John Bohan said it was already recruiting for the new positions in the Dublin office, which will be mainly graduate roles in fund accountancy, compliance and IT.

Chief executive of Enterprise Ireland Frank Ryan said financial services was an important sector with significant potential for export and employment growth.

Further jobs are to be created when US company Marketo establishes a European headquarters in Dublin. Marketo chief executive Phil Fernandez is meeting the IDA this week to finalise the move.

Fergus Gloster has been recruited as managing director for Europe and has already begun the process of staffing the office, but the company was unable to specify the number of jobs that would be created. Mr Fernandez said the Dublin office would receive “significant investment”.

Founded in 2006, Marketo helps firms to improve and predict revenues by utilising information gathered online and through social networks. The company has more than 1,000 clients and has raised $57 million (€39 million) in venture capital funding to date.

“Buyers today, where so much takes place in social channels, leave behind a tremendous amount of information,” said Mr Fernandez. “For example, when three people from the same company come to our website in the same week, that’s a very clear indicator that they’re interested in the product.”

Mr Fernandez was chief operating officer of Epiphany before it was sold to SSA Global in 2005 for $329 million. Mr Gloster was formerly a technology director with Oracle and was one of the founders of Salesforce.com.

According to Mr Fernandez, Dublin was selected for a number of reasons, but particularly due to the skills available.

“All of our software deals were done on the telephone following online leads and we need to have the same culture and process in our European operation,” he said. “There’s great experience for this kind of selling here.”

He said low corporate tax was an incentive to the company as it had big ambitions for growth, however it was not a priority.

“If you think about tax first, I think you’re making a great mistake,” he added.

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Shannon Free Zone set to record net jobs gain after 325 posts announced

By Gordon Deegan

Monday, April 18, 2011

THE chief executive of Shannon Development said yesterday he was confident that the Shannon Free Zone will record a net jobs gain this year after two years of net losses.




Dr Vincent Cunnane was speaking after three firms in the Shannon Free Zone announced on Friday the creation of 325 jobs, which he described as "a turning point for the Free Zone".

Last year, the Free Zone — home to over 100 companies with annual sales of €3 billion — suffered a net loss of 254 jobs, reducing the numbers employed to 6,066.

However, Dr Cunnane said: "We have done very well in the Free Zone in the sense that while we have lost jobs, we haven’t lost companies. Downsizing is what has dominated activities here, rather than companies closing."

The Free Zone has not recorded a net jobs increase since 2008 but Dr Cunnane said: "I would be confident of the zone recording a net jobs increase this year.

"I think we are really turning a corner and I think there is a straight road ahead of it. This year, we would be very disappointed if there are not more job announcements for the Free Zone."

Ireland’s corporate tax rate of 12.5% "is top of our agenda when we go to meet companies that are considering investing here," he added, pointing to other potential investor attractions such as an English-speaking, well-educated work-force and attractive business environment, "but corporation tax is at the heart of our sell to new companies".

Dr Cunnane warned that "to lose the competitive rate of corporate tax — your one distinct advantage — would set Ireland on a path from which achieving a recovery would be put back years and years — decades possibly".



This appeared in the printed version of the Irish Examiner Monday, April 18, 2011

Read more: http://www.examiner.ie/business/kfoj...#ixzz1JtyIaUsY

This bodes well for Intel Ireland

First Irishwoman as Intel vice president

By John Daly

Monday, April 18, 2011

MACROOM native Ann Kelleher has become the first Irishwoman to be appointed as a vice-president of Intel, in a significant endorsement of the contribution of Irish talent to the multinational.





Her appointment brings to three the number of Irish people who hold vice-president positions within the company. Eamonn Sinnott, general manger of Intel Ireland, is vice- president of Intel’s Technology Manufacturing Group and Rory McInerney, based at Intel’s headquarters in Santa Clara, is vice-president of the company’s Architecture Group.

Ms Kelleher, who currently holds the site manager position at one of Intel’s most advanced facilities, has been named vice president, Technology and Manufacturing Group.

She is responsible for all aspects of the Fab 11X plant, which employs more than 3,200 people. Ms Kelleher previously worked at the Phoenix, Arizona facility where she was plant manager for Fab 12. Prior to that, she was the Fab 24 factory manager in Ireland.

Ms Kelleher has moved 13 times in her career, which began as a research scientist for IMEC, a micro and nanoelectronics research centre in Belgium.

She has been with Intel since 1996 and holds a masters in electrical engineering from UCC.

In 1993 she became the first female to receive a PhD from the National Microelectronics Research Centre.



This appeared in the printed version of the Irish Examiner Monday, April 18, 2011


Read more: http://www.examiner.ie/business/kfoj...#ixzz1JtyiA0s1

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Version 1 to create another 180 jobs

180 new jobs have been announced by Version 1, an IT consulting and outsourced managed services company.

180 new jobs have been announced by Version 1, an IT consulting and outsourced managed services company. Most of the jobs will be in Dublin.

The firm is hiring graduates and senior technology consultants with Microsoft, Oracle and Java qualifications. The jobs will be filled over the next three years, with 45 jobs to be filled over the next three months.

The company created another 100 jobs last year and already employs 265 staff in Dublin, Cork and Belfast.

Version 1 said it was announcing this latest recruitment drive to meet the demands of new business and forecasted growth of over 30% this year.

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100 new jobs promised for Athlone

Friday, 13 May 2011

100 jobs are to be created in Athlone by an international market research company over the next three years.

The NPD group is setting up operations in the IDA's Business and Technology park in Garrycastle in the town.

The NPD group provides consumer and retail market research for over 1,800 customers in the automotive sector, the entertainment industry and a variety of other areas.

'Athlone was our preferred location for several reasons, but none more important than a deep talent pool of well-educated and multilingual people. The presence of Athlone Institute of Technology was also a factor in our decision,' commented Tod Johnson, Chairman and CEO of The NPD Group.

The company has already advertised for senior quality assurance engineers to be based here.

Recruitment is at an advanced stage and the firm , which has its international headquarters in New York, is announcing a major expansion today.

'Today's announcement demonstrates that Ireland is very much open for business and is an excellent location to host the global operations of multinational companies,' said John Perry, the Minister of State at Department of Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation.

And Esri Ireland is also to add 20 jobs to its number in North Dublin. The company specialises in computer mapping technologies for big government and corporate clients.

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Cloud computing firm creates 125 new jobs in Dublin

Monday May 30 2011
A cloud computing company will create 125 jobs in Dublin over the next three years, it was announced today.

The US-based, Marketo, which specialises in revenue-performance management, has already started recruiting for sales, marketing, development, support, consulting and back office positions.

President and CEO, Phil Fernandez said Ireland was chosen because they needed a 'European hub with a large talent pool of skilled people'.

Marketo is one of the fastest growing cloud computing companies in the world, based in Silicon Valley, in California. It had sales growth last year of 300%.

The Minister for Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation, Richard Bruton, described the jobs as a great confidence boost for cloud computing in Ireland - an industry which one report predicted could be worth €9.5bn by 2014.

- independent.ie

800 new jobs in investment funds


Approximately 800 new jobs are to be created by the investment funds industry.


Deutsche Bank headquarters - 75-100 new jobs to be created



Plans for 711 jobs this year were announced at the Irish Funds Industry Association AGM today where the results of a human resources survey of the IFIA's member firms were revealed.


It was also announced that Deutsche Bank is to move its entire European hedge fund administration operation to Dublin and create a European centre of excellence for hedge funds in the IFSC, recruiting between 75-100 people by the end of the year.


The 711 new jobs will bring to 12,500 the number of people employed by the IFI.


The jobs created by the funds industry encompass a variety of positions from fund accountants/administrators; transfer agency, custody and trustee; client relationship manager; legal, accounting and tax advisory roles.

Gary Palmer, Chief Executive of the IFIA, said that the growth the industry in Ireland recorded during 2010 was considerably greater than any other comparable fund jurisdiction.

He said that this 'underlines the experience, expertise and global reach of Ireland as a leading funds domicile and the world's number one centre for the administration of investment funds.

'And we expect this growth to continue.'

RTE

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Tesco to create 522 jobs in €120m investment

Tesco Ireland is to create 522 jobs in new stores between now and next summer, as part of a €120m investment. The company has already created 235 positions in new stores in the last four months.

Most of the new jobs will be based in Dublin and Co Kildare. The new stores to open over the next couple of months are in Cabra (150) and Rush (80) in Dublin and Kildare (120). A replacement store is also underway in Roscrea, Co Tipperary which was originally planned for last year. 60 jobs will be based here.

Seven new Tesco Express stores in Dublin and Kildare, creating 16 jobs each, will also be opened this year.

The company opened new shops in Balbriggan, Portlaoise and Celbridge earlier this year, creating 235 jobs.

Tesco also estimates 548 building jobs will be created during the expansion drive.

'This latest investment in new and improved Tesco stores once again highlights our commitment to Ireland,' commented Tesco Ireland's chief executive Tony Keohane.

Small shops claim move will hit jobs

The organisation representing 4,000 small shops says today's expansion announcement by Tesco will lead to job displacement from local communities.

Tara Buckley of RGDATA says jobs announcements by large retailers do not amount to newly created jobs but actually cut jobs in existing businesses.

She criticised Tesco's model of opening large stores on the edges of towns, saying that rather than create competition in the market, they close down all the competition.

Ms Buckley also says independent retailers employ far more people in proportion to their market share compared with Tesco. She says independents currently employ up to 90,000 people and have 38% of the retail grocery market, while Tesco employs between 11,000 and 13,000 while holding 27% of the market.

that's nice, hopefully other Irish companies will follow the same way, if they'll see increased consumption of their products of course

[Seravia]

http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/...301063354.html

US ELECTRONICS firm Analog Devices is to create 100 jobs in Limerick as part of a €50 million investment in research and development.

The high-skilled positions will become available over the next five years in integrated circuit design and applications engineering.

It is expected that an additional 130 construction jobs will be created in the construction of a 140,000sq ft research and development centre and a specialised laboratory as part of the investment.

More than 1,000 people are employed in manufacturing and design at the firm, which set up in Limerick in 1977. Last year the Boston-based semi-conductor manufacturer announced an investment of €23 million in research and development at its Limerick plant. The latest programme is supported by the Government through the IDA.

Speaking at yesterday’s announcement, Jerald Fishman, president and chief executive of Analog Devices, described the Limerick facility as a “strategic part” of the company’s global operations.

Welcoming the announcement in Limerick yesterday, Minister for Enterprise, Jobs and Innovation Richard Bruton described it as a “brave investment” by Analog, which was testament to the company’s foresight.

This is the first time in quite a while I've seen any investment in Limerick, so that's good news. It also says 130 jobs are going to be created in building a 140,000sq ft research centre, and that's pretty huge. Does anyone know exactly where this will be built?

[spider74]

It will be in the existing site.I think some old part of the plant will be demolished.There will also be another building demolished for new offices.I work in Dell and A.devices in
the construction side of things.Sisk do all the work in both places.

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PayPal to create 200 Blanchardstown jobs
Updated: 16:45, Tuesday, 9 August 2011

200 jobs are to be created at the online payments company, PayPal, in

Blanchardstown in Dublin.




PayPal - New jobs in Blanchardstown

200 jobs are to be created at the online payments company, PayPal, in Dublin.
The jobs are in customer service and operations at the company's European centre at its Blanchardstown centre.
PayPal, which set up in Ireland in 2003, currently employs more than 1,350 in Blanchardstown.
Minister for Jobs, Enterprise & Innovation Richard Bruton said Paypal is a world class company and has shown in west Dublin that Ireland still has competitive strengths, including skills in technology and languages.
Those are the skills that will rebuild the economy, he said, and it was a very important vote of confidence in Ireland.
Earlier this year, PayPal announced plans for 150 new jobs in its rapidly-growing European business.

[Seravia]

If these 1000 jobs do go to Limerick or Waterford it would be brilliant!

http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/...306066810.html

A US company planning to open a call centre outside Dublin is currently looking for a substantial office building where it is expected to employ a workforce of up to 1,000.

The company is looking for 9,290 sq m (100,000 sq ft) of space and has concentrated its search so far in the Limerick/Shannon region as well as in Dundalk and Waterford.

Declan O’Reilly of Dublin commercial estate agents HT Meagher O’Reilly has been engaged to find a suitable premises for the unnamed company which is apparently anxious to proceed with the new venture early in the next year. Contacted in New York yesterday, Mr O’Reilly said he was precluded from discussing the project or identifying the firm involved.

The inclusion of Waterford as a possible venue for the new company is hardly surprising following the recent closure of the Talk Talk plant there with a loss of almost 600 jobs. However the building used by that company is likely to be ruled out at an early stage as it could not accommodate anything like 1,000 workers. Similarly it will be equally difficult to find a large enough premises in the Dundalk area.

While the Limerick-Shannon region also does not have a 100,000 sq ft office block standing by, the promoters are likely to look at the option of upgrading and converting one of a number of vacant industrial buildings around the city.

There are several options available including part of the former Dell assembly plant near the city centre. Office blocks of this size are also in short supply in Dublin city centre since construction activity ceased about three years ago.

However, much attention is currently being focussed on the partially built office building in the north Dublin docklands which was to have been used as a new headquarters for Anglo Irish Bank.

Several development companies, most of them based overseas, have expressed interest in acquiring the block, which is likely to cost in excess of €40 million to complete. The half-built block and the waterfront site are ultimately the responsibility of Nama which would like to see them used as a new Irish headquarters for the American bank, BNY Mellon.

With a number of parties apparently chasing the same development opportunity, the State asset manager is expected to offer it for sale by tender to the highest bidder.

The agency also has the option of financing the completion of the building, which will have a floor area of around 21,376 sq m (230,000 sq ft).

The seven-storey block was one of a large number of properties owned by Liam Carroll’s Zoe group of companies which collapsed into receivership and liquidation in 2009 with debts of €1.3 billion.

And while we're on Limerick jobs...

http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/...306074191.html

LIMERICK HAS received its second jobs boost in as many days with the announcement that a leading corporate governance services firm is to establish a European centre in the midwest.

Yesterday’s announcement came a day after financial services firm Northern Trust announced 200 new jobs for Limerick.

Minister for Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation Richard Bruton has welcomed the move by Glass Lewis Co to locate its newest office in Limerick with the support of IDA Ireland.

The new European office, the fifth in Glass Lewis’s global network, will focus on serving institutional investors throughout Europe. It will create up to 15 jobs in the first year with potential for additional employment, according to IDA chief executive Barry O’Leary.

Excellent.

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Dublin becomes hub for major internet groups

By Jamie Smyth in Dublin

A decade ago, a stroll through Dublin’s docklands might have prompted a person to grip their wallet more tightly as they passed derelict buildings and an old disused gasworks. Today, the area has been transformed by glass-fronted office blocks and café-bars.

It has become a hub for the world’s internet giants, boasting the European headquarters of Google, Facebook, LinkedIn and games firm Zynga. Twitter, which is setting up a Dublin office, is rumoured to be seeking premises in the neighbourhood, dubbed “Silicon Docks” by local media.
More


“I would describe Dublin as the Constantinople of the 21st century. You know, the old silk route where east meets west,” says John Herlihy, head of Google Ireland. “Google are serving and driving business in 56 markets, using 56 languages, all from this location. I don’t know anywhere else in the world where you could to that today.”

More..

http://www.ft.com/cms/s/2/836bffd0-0...#axzz1cHmrsHWN

[belfastuniguy]

Dublin as the Constantinople of the 21st century

Some artistic license on the part of Mr. Herlihy there