Facebook to double Dublin operation

Social networking site Facebook is to more than double the size of its Dublin operations, it was announced today.

The announcement was made by Tánaiste Mary Coughlan at the official opening of Facebook’s new EMEA headquarters in Dublin.

The site's European operations have been headquartered in Dublin since October 2008 and the office has grown to more than 70 employees.

"Facebook is increasing its investment in order to scale its operations across the EMEA region and support its users and advertisers as the company grows," a statement said.

"The company expects to double the size of its operations within the next year and is hiring across several functions including user operations, online operations, advertising sales, advertising campaign delivery, finance and engineering."

The Tanáiste described the investment as "exciting", saying it was "a fabulous endorsement that Ireland can satisfy the needs of such highly innovative and technologically advanced companies as they make critical investments".

"The skilled talent pool available to us in Ireland has helped us match the growing needs of our users and advertisers across the EMEA region," said Colm Long, Director, Online Operations, Facebook.

Around 300 million people worldwide - 1 million of them in Ireland - use Facebook to communicate online with friends, family and coworkers.