A criticism of Ireland’s multinational companies is that they don’t need an ecosystem of local companies around them.  A carmaker, for example, would be surrounded by hundreds of smaller companies supplying them with parts and other inputs. That’s not really the case with software companies, which are Ireland’s speciality. Their “raw materials” are intellectual property, brought in from the US.  The exception to this are the high-end manufacturers, like pharma companies, Intel, and the data centres. These businesses are physical in nature. They need precisely designed plant and machinery. An industry of local companies has grown to supply them like…

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