Dublin is Ireland’s vibrant capital city and provides a gateway between the EU and the US. It’s compact and easy to navigate; mild no matter the season and filled with a millennium of history, energy and opportunity. Oh, and it’s home to 1.2 million of the friendliest people on Earth too.

It’s a UNESCO city of literature, having produced world famous names like James Joyce and Oscar Wilde. Ireland’s cultural influence is known the world over with Dublin the epicentre of it. Bands like U2, The Script and Pillow Queens walk these streets and you might catch a whiff of hops from the Guinness brewery too, if you’re lucky.

A city with a diverse population too with new Dubliners making up at least 17% of the city’s population. A 2019 European Commission survey of immigrants on the quality of life in Dublin found that 90% believed it was a good place to live, while 94% said it was good place for members of the LGBT community. This was well above average across the cities surveyed. In 2015, Ireland became the first country in the world to legalise same-sex marriage by popular vote.

Dublin is Ireland’s economic engine, accounting for 41% of the country’s Gross Value Added (GVA). It’s a predominately services driven economy, which makes up approx. 80% of business activity. Half of Forbes’ most innovative companies are based here including Google, Amazon, Facebook and Salesforce. Dublin is also a major global hub for fund administration, aircraft leasing, insurance and a range of wholesale banking activities. The city has been the biggest beneficiary of Brexit relocations with 135 financial firms, representing 25% of the total.

Thanks to Dublin’s strong startup ecosystem, as well as its accelerators, research centres and innovation supports, R&D activities are on the rise. Expenditure by companies exceeded €3 billion in 2019 (source: CSO) and, in 2020, the Irish government increased its spending in the sector to €869 million (estimated total worth of €3.4 billion).

Dublin is also home to a large student population, and it’s set to grow, with a record number of applications in 2021. The region has five universities: Trinity College Dublin, DCU, UCD, TU Dublin and Maynooth. All five feature in the QS World University Rankings, with three of them ranking among the top 500 in the world.

Surrounded by beautiful mountains and sea, Dublin is a European capital like no other. It’s the perfect place to experience a unique and captivating culture, so what are you waiting for?