Up to £500 million (€635 million) will be invested in the Irish technology sector within the next five years, according Mr Don Harrington, director of Davy Corporate Finance.

"Venture capitalists have traditionally been slow to fund Irish technology company start-ups and development. This situation has come full circle where significant capital investment is available for Irish technology companies," Mr Harrington told a conference this week.

He predicted that companies would move away from focusing on the Nasdaq in favour of more listings in the Irish and European markets and he warned that the challenge for the sector was to avoid the situation where far too many technology firms sell out before achieving their real potential.