Apple announces new Dublin office as it opens new Cork building

By Bairbre Holmes, Press Association

Apple has announced it will open a 300-person office in Dublin, as the Taoiseach opened the tech giant’s new building in Cork.

Employees in the capital will begin moving into 4/5 Park Place, near St Stephen’s Green, later this year.

“We’ve called Ireland home for more than 45 years and are proud to continue expanding our operations and investing in our people and community here,” said Cathy Kearney, vice president of operations.

The Silicon Valley-based company opened its first manufacturing facility in Cork in 1980.

Around 5,500 people are employed by Apple in Ireland, with the new facility opened on the Hollyhill Campus on Thursday able to accommodate up to 1,300 workers.

At the event Micheál Martin said: “The contribution Apple has made in Cork and Ireland over the last 45 years cannot be overstated, creating thousands of highly skilled roles and continually investing in their Irish operations.”

He paid tribute to the university community in Cork saying they “have done and continue to do so much to make sure that Cork has the skills base to sustain the sort of investment we are celebrating today”.

More than 90 nationalities are represented in Apple’s Cork workforce and Martin told them “your presence and integration in our communities adds a great deal to our city, county and country”.

The city’s Lord Mayor Fergal Dennehy said the company’s growth “mirrors” Cork city’s “journey from a regional centre to what will be Ireland’s fastest growing city region over the next two decades”.

The new building is known as Hollyhill 5 and runs on 100 per cent renewable energy, and the Cork campus features more than 200 solar thermal panels and rainwater harvesting.