Google announces €75m new investment in Ireland
Search giant Google has this morning revealed that is to invest €75m in a new facility in west Dublin.
The company has acquired 11 acres of land and an existing building on the Profile Park industrial estate in Dublin 22 and will soon begin construction work on a highly energy-efficient data centre.
"Once complete, the facility will rank amongst the most energy-efficient data centres in the world," the company said.
"Google will use advanced air-cooling technology that has been tested and perfected at Google’s existing rented data centre facility in Dublin.
"This technology takes advantage of Ireland’s naturally cool climate and uses outside air to cool computers instead of costly and energy-hungry air-conditioning units."
A data centre is a specialised building full of computers that run online services such as the Google search engine, Gmail and Google Maps.
Some 200 jobs will be created during the construction phase of the project, the company said.
Thirty jobs will be created when the facility is up and running, including computer technicians, electrical and mechanical engineers, and catering and security staff.
The company's European, Middle East and Africa (EMEA) headquarters is located at Barrow St in Dublin, where it employs almost 2,000 people.
It also last year bought three major office buildings in central Dublin, including Dublin’s tallest commercial office building, Montevetro.
The development was welcomed by Enterprise Minister Richard Bruton.
"The decision by Google, one of the most important multinational companies in Ireland, to locate a state of the art data centre in Dublin is an endorsement of our policies in this area, and a sign of what is possible if we continue our focus," he said.
“We’re very happy to continue investing in Ireland and to build out our presence here even further,” said John Herlihy, head of Google Ireland.
“The new data centre will be one of the most energy-efficient in Google’s global fleet. This investment further strengthens our presence here."
Mr Herlihy also thanked IDA Ireland for its assistance in selecting the site.
News of the latest investment comes after Twitter revealed it is to establish an international office in Dublin, adding to the country's reputation as an internet hub.
Social networking majors Facebook, Linkedin and Zynga also have their EMEA operations headquarter in the capital.
