NASDAQ bell rings for the first time in Ireland at Dublin Web Summit

Taoiseach Enda Kenny ran the opening bell for New York’s Nasdaq stock exchange today as part of the Dublin Web Summit.

Mr Kenny, alongside NASDAQ’s Executive Vice President, Bruce Aust opened the stock market live on stage at the Summit, making it the first time that the NASDAQ bell had been rung in Ireland.

Hello Dublin from #NASDAQ Opening bell ringing #WhyIreland #WebSummit pic.twitter.com/UTD4zaZN6g

— IDA Ireland (@IDAIRELAND) October 30, 2013

"It is my great honour to ring the opening bell for the NASDAQ during Europe’s biggest and best tech conference, the Dublin Web Summit," the Taoiseach said.

"Ringing the NASDAQ bell from Dublin is symbolic of Ireland’s prime position as a hub of digital enterprise and innovation."

Enda giving a great speech before the ringing of the #NASDAQ bell at the #WebSummit pic.twitter.com/1lHmidcJKm

— Aoife Rigney (@aoiferigney) October 30, 2013

With some 10,000 people in attendance, the Dublin Web Summit has this year attracted globally-renowned innovators, inventors and investors from over 90 countries who will speak from six stages at the RDS.

Among them is Elon Musk, the founder of PayPal, Tesla Motors and Space X, who was named by Time magazine as one of the most influential people in the world.

"Opening the NASDAQ from the Dublin Web Summit is bringing international attention on Dublin as a vibrant tech city," said summit founder Paddy Cosgrave.

"Over the past three years the CEOs of companies such as Wonga, Quantcast and Twitter all attended the Summit and subsequently chose Dublin as the location for their European operations," Mr Cosgrave said.

"Hundreds of jobs have been created through the showcasing of Dublin and Ireland via the Web Summit."

Organisers said the Dublin Web Summit has grown since the first event in 2010 to become Europe’s largest technology conference.

State investment agency IDA Ireland said it will be using the event to sell the country as a location for international businesses.

A live stream of the summit is available here