Highs and lows of this week’s Irish tech scene

10 Jul 2015

In Siliconrepublic.com’s careers round-up last week, we had nothing but good news. Jobs announcements, advice and praise for Ireland were all plentiful. This week, there were a few more ups and downs.

While we could never have hoped to sail once more to the giddy heights of last week’s wealth of jobs announcements, the Irish tech industry were no slouches this week.

Three high-profile announcements brought 350 jobs to Dublin, with Vodafone, PlanNet21 and Coupa Software all making big investments in the capital.

Outside of the industry, a landmark Bill passed in the Seanad this week, legislatively protecting LGBT teachers (and other employees of institutions at least partly funded by the state), allowing them to be open about their sexuality without fear of reprisal.

This week also saw the continuation of Ireland’s global success in science, with three separate projects – all devised by young people under the age of 17 – reaching the final 90 in the Google Science Fair.

It wasn’t all good news, though. Thursday saw the release of study data that showed that, on Google, women were less likely than men to see adverts for high-paying jobs.

To lighten the mood after reading that, we also took a look at astronomy as a career, and put together some memes that should appeal to anyone in the field. Or, really, anyone at all.

To catch up on this week’s top stories,  take a look below.

Vodafone creates 200 new jobs in €60m investment

Mobile giant Vodafone is bringing 200 new jobs to Dublin as part of a €60m IDA-supported investment in Carrickmines.

30 engineering jobs in Dublin with PlanNet21

The Citywest Business Campus in Dublin is to be home to PlanNet21’s new headquarters and data centre as part of a €20m investment that will also create 30 jobs for the data management company.

120 tech jobs in Dublin with Coupa

Coupa Software has opened a new European hub in Dublin on the back of a year’s worth of global expansion, with the new office in Eastpoint Business Park bringing 120 jobs to the region.

Landmark Equality Bill passes Seanad

A Bill has passed through Report Stage in the Seanad, which the Gay and Lesbian Equality Network (GLEN) claims provides a “critical springboard” for a necessary culture change in Ireland.

Google Science Fair features 3 Irish finalists

Three Irish teenagers have been selected among 90 regional finalists in the global Google Science Fair, it was announced earlier in the week. The teens hail from Cork, Monaghan and Dublin.

Women see fewer high-paying jobs ads

While Google is well known for targeting adverts on its services towards certain demographics, a new study has shown it might be somewhat discriminatory, with fewer women than men seeing ads for high-paying jobs.

10 memes only an astronomer will get

This week, we looked at astronomers – those who, on a daily basis, face the unnerving prospect of seeing humanity’s existence in a reality far removed from what us regular folk consider ‘normal life’. Every year, they peer further and further away from Earth.

Rollercoaster image, via Shutterstock

 

Kirsty Tobin
By Kirsty Tobin

Kirsty Tobin served as careers editor of Silicon Republic from 2015 up to August 2017. When she was younger, she had a dream where she started and won a fight with a T-Rex, so she’s pretty sure she kicked butt at this, too. Passions include eating all the cake, watching more TV than is healthy and sassy comebacks.

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