They already have low paid customer service and ops in Ireland. They won't get engineers to move to there. Like finance guys and the promise of tax free living in Dubai - at the end of the day they don't twant o be in a backwater.

Dublin is by no means a 'backwater' - Google and Facebook's EU headquarters both sit in Dublin, as well as large outposts of a number of global financial institutions. There's a lot going on in Dublin, not to speak of its history, accessibility, and affordability compared to the canonical 'tech hubs'.

Let's not forget that there are many engineers who don't live in the Bay Area, NYC or London, for whom Dublin may be quite attractive. And while it may not be on the level of those three regions, it has a lot going for it in its' own right.

Amazon has a big branch in Dublin too. Even before the whole Brexit thing, Ireland is already a center. I would say it is good time to bet in more.

Google and Facebook may well be headquartered there, but I suspect it's more for tax reasons than the Guinness.

Tax reasons or not, people are actually moving there. A lot of my former colleagues moved to Ireland (from Croatia).

Now Ireland has both: human capital and tax reasons.

again ireland>croatia does not equate ireland>london or whatever amazing place you're already living in.

They do need the HQ for tax reasons but they wouldn't need to hire that many people (more than in London for example). They do that because they want to.

I work in IT in Dublin. There is a growing IT sector, but the larger companies here are a lot of support and infrastructure (Goog Amz etc).

Not saying there aren't plenty IT jobs, but you can't look at size/investment alone without looking at what kind of roles are actually there.

I'd also note that while companies get plenty tax breaks, actual income-tax is pretty high. Accommodation is pretty pricey near the centre too, though not as bad as London.

Facebook has a bigger presence in London than in Dublin, although I don't think either is formally the "EU headquarters".

Whatever "formally" means, many US companies (Facebook and Microsoft are the best known examples) attribute their european earning to Ireland in order to enjoy a low tax bracket.

Apple's EU headquarters is based in Cork comprising some engineering as well as support, financials.

Dublin in particular is incredibly dynamic right now. And it's a lot better than where most London tech companies are e.g. Canary Wharf, Stockley Park etc.

As far as I've read London was quite the shit-hole in the late 1970s-early 1980s, it could very happily return to that status.

Tech companies buy land? Since when? Sounds like a silly rumor.