Ireland and Apple is a relationship that goes beyond mere tax advantages

As it marks 40 years in Cork and plans to take more office space in the city, economist Seamus Coffey charts Apple's growth and its impact on the Irish economy.

'Much is made of Apple’s tax arrangements in Ireland. The structure that was subject to a state-aid investigation by the European Commission had been in place since Apple came to Cork in 1980.'

Apple was founded in 1976 in Steve Job’s bedroom of his parents’ Californian home. Just four years later the company’s revenues exceeded $100 million and it sought to establish its first international location. That location was Hollyhill in Cork.

Initially, Apple’s Cork facility was primarily a manufacturing facility. It is now the only manufacturing facility owned directly by the company as pretty much all the company’s manufacturing has been outsourced.