Twitter is to locate an international office in Dublin, the IDA confirmed this morning – appropriately enough in a tweet.
The decision by Twitter to locate here is a notable jewel in Ireland’s digital crown and affirms its reputation as the ‘Internet Capital of Europe.’
In the last 20 minutes the following message appeared on IDA’s Twitter account: “Ireland is trending. Twitter to establish international office in Dublin. #idairl“
Twitter joins many other internet giants that have chosen to locate here, including Google, LinkedIn, Facebook, Zynga and many others, not to mention established technology stalwarts including IBM, Microsoft, Oracle, Intel, Apple and HP.
The IDA hasn’t confirmed exactly how many jobs Twitter will locate in Dublin. But, other internet businesses that have located in Dublin have scaled up well beyond their initial plans.
Google, for example, came to Dublin in 2004 with the intention of creating around 300 jobs. Today, it employs 2,000 people and counting. Facebook came to Dublin with the intention of creating around 80 jobs – today it employs more than 200 and is still growing.
The competition over Twitter has been an intense affair, particularly between Dublin and London. Earlier this year, when Twitter announced certain positions in London, it was feared all was lost.
However, the IDA stayed in the game.
“IDA is absolutely thrilled that Twitter has decided to establish an international office in Ireland,” Barry O’Leary, CEO of IDA Ireland, said.
“Twitter is a fantastic addition to Ireland’s dynamic digital media cluster and we are excited to support the company’s continued international growth.”
Jack Dorsey created San Francisco-headquartered Twitter in 2006 and the microblogging service has rapidly gained worldwide popularity, with more than 100m active users generating more than 230m tweets per day.
