Ireland's other name (besides Emerald isle).
In an attempt to boost the Irish economy, the
EU sort of subsidized foreign companies to settle in
Ireland. Until 2002 (IIRC), those companies only have to pay 12%
tax instead of the 21%. Second advantage is that the native language is
English (only 5-10% gaelic), which makes it easier to recruit people from abroad. Third, the Irish population is young, which means a lot of fresh recent
grads with up to date technical
knowledge.
IT companies located in Ireland varying from manufacturing plants (
Dell,
Intel), software (
Microsoft,
Novell), support centres (
Compaq,
Gateway) to
research and development (e.g.
MIT Media lab Europe)... and many more.