Brexit just made Ireland look even more attractive for tech

Dublin’s commissioner for startups, Niamh Bushnell, reacted to Britain’s decision to exit the European Union by issuing a press release with “Thanks to Brexit” as a headline.

Twitter, Airbnb, Slack and other notable tech companies have their European headquarters in Dublin, close to the city’s Silicon Docks, which lies near a neighborhood dubbed “Googletown” because of Google’s vast campus there.

Tech firms collectively employ more than 80,000 people in Ireland, according to IDA Ireland, which has responsibility for attracting overseas investment.

A young, native English-speaking, tech-savvy population of 4.6 million people, an openness to overseas talent and a government largely in thrall to tech companies.

[...] as limits to immigration was a core component to the Leave campaign, there’s every chance that talks will seek to enforce stronger rules than exist today.

While British tech companies may be forced to navigate a labyrinthine work permit system, Ireland will continue to allow European talent to base itself there, and bring colleagues.

Coincidentally or not, the Irish government laid out a plan this week to spend about $2.2 million in a bid to attract about 3,000 technology workers, with the target markets including central and southern Europe.

With Britain departing the EU, Ireland will lose a valuable ally in the fight to keep its 12.5 percent tax rate.

[...] the EU is probing a very specific “sweetheart deal” that Apple allegedly received from Ireland — there’s no broader threat to the nation’s tax system.