Ireland is more than just lager, leprechauns and lucky charms. Its economy is getting a shot in the arm thanks to investments from the likes of Intel and Google. Take a peek inside the Celtic Tiger’s roaring success.
By Natalya Brown, Special to Digital Journal
When it comes to technology boosting a nation’s standing, Ireland is Europe’s Silicon Valley.
With IT giants like Intel and Google pumping fuel into the economy faster than air up a Guinness ale-line, Ireland is welcoming a new era of growth, international attention and a future forecast to be anything but cloudy.
Ireland’s technological prowess is exploding onto the European scene, virtually obliterating the images of depression that made the country an Angela’s Ashes stereotype as recently as five years ago. Between 1993 and 2003, the economy grew by 96 per cent. Companies like Google, eBay and Intel have set up shop in Ireland to give the country more high-tech cachet.
“Lots of large multinationals using Ireland as their European base has helped the IT industry grow here,” says John Madigan, chief technology officer at MoreSoft IT Group. “They are unlikely to move out major operations in the foreseeable future as the tax incentives are very good.”
Ireland offers a corporate tax rate of 12.5 per cent, compared to 34.3 per cent in Canada, the C.D. Howe Institute reports. Since the 1980s, Ireland’s corporate tax rates have lowered to their current figure, giving high-tech multinationals incentive to embrace Ireland during the boom.
“Newer arrivals to Ireland, companies such as Google, plus the growing number of indigenous Irish-owned software companies setting up, are signs that this trend [of economic growth] will continue,” says John Doyle, who has worked as an IT director in Ireland for such companies as Alcatel and Lucent since 1993.
So what has Google done? Its base in Dublin is the company’s largest garrison outside the U.S., employing 800 people representing over 40
nationalities. Google reported in November that it will create an additional 500 jobs in Ireland.
“Lots of large multinationals using Ireland as their European base has helped the IT industry grow here,” says John Madigan, chief technology officer at MoreSoft IT Group. – Photo courtesy of Intel
Google isn’t the only booster of Ireland’s economy. Tech analysts argue that the Celtic Tiger owes its stripes to an enormous structure that looms over the tiny village of Leixlip, just outside Dublin. Welcome to Intel Ireland, famous for its production of microchips, particularly the Intel Core 2, which is 40 per cent faster and more energy efficient than its predecessor.
The company, Ireland’s largest private employer with 5,500 staff, takes credit for pushing Ireland’s economic snowball that eventually gained incredible momentum.
“Intel’s decision to locate in Ireland was one with several risk factors, but it has turned out to be an outstanding investment for Intel and Ireland,” says Martin Curley, senior principal engineer and global director of IT innovation and research at Intel Ireland.
The Irish are feeling that impact first-hand. In 1985, close to one in five Irish people were out of work, compared to today where unemployment is resting at four per cent.
The country’s resurgence should also thank other major business pacesetters operating there, such as Microsoft, Dell and HP.
The pint-clinking good times shouldn’t end anytime soon. Government investment in research is on the rise, especially in areas such as nanotechnology and regenerative medicine.
As Ireland continues to become Europe’s Silicon Valley, expect to hear about more tech innovation emerging from the Emerald Isle. After all, they have Intel inside.
