Not these days perhaps, but back in the 1990's it would have. Who else was there, EMC?

And if Apple did leave it's not unrealistic that the reasons that made them leave would also be on the minds of the other multinationals in the area.

IMO this sounds like fairly shaky ground to build your economy on

History demonstrates otherwise. Apple has had facilities in Ireland since 1979. Most of the Apple IIs that were sold in Europe were built in Cork.

You’re not on the same thread at all

Whatever.

Sure was, but 1980's Ireland had pretty much no economy at all. Emigration was an expectation, not a privilege.

The country needed all it could get. And it eventually did very well, then screwed it up in the Global Financial Crisis, but now seems to be doing quite well (until Brexit starts to have an effect).

That was 40 years ago, and it brought real actual manufacturing to these shores. The situation nowadays is very different.