Silicon Docks

The nickname makes reference to Silicon Valley, and was adopted because of the concentration of European headquarters of high-tech companies such as Facebook,[1] LinkedIn,[2] Indeed,[3] Google,[4] Twitter,[5] and startups in the area.

In the wake of the dot-com bubble collapse from 1999 to 2001, IDA Ireland's director of operations in California, Dermot Tuohy, made moves to bring the at-the-time budding tech companies, PayPal, eBay, Overture (which would later become part of Yahoo!

Google's property advisors at the time also alerted them to an alternative location at Grand Canal Dock, identifying the potential of a number of buildings on Barrow Street owned by developer Liam Carroll.

The agency, and many others including senior Google employees, felt the decision was directly responsible for many other Silicon Valley names, such as Twitter and Facebook, choosing to set up shop nearby.

Dublin City Council, which took over the Docklands Authority's powers, was determined to encourage the continued development of the 66 hectares, north and south of the river, that comprised the new planning zone.

[8]The housing crisis in Dublin, and the marked increase in the cost of living, put pressure on tech firms to retain staff in the Silicon Docks area.

[11][12] A book titled Silicon Docks: The Rise of Dublin as a Global Tech Hub by Pamela Newenham was released 22 January 2015, published by Ireland's Liberties Press.

While it has been reported that the reasons behind the development of Silicon Docks are 'scarce' or 'challenging',[13] three areas are generally focused on, including corporate tax incentive, human capital, and seed funding.

[14] However, Prof Vinny Cahill, Dean of Research and computer science lecturer at Trinity College Dublin, explained in 2012, "There is definitely a growing venture capital community here.