Like the theoretical ever-increasing crises in capitalism which Karl Marx predicted with such glee, it seems to many observers that the cycles of boom and bust in the Republic's hightech sector are shortening. Within a couple of months, Seagate said it would lay off 1,400 people and AST at least 140 more. Now Dell promises to have a payroll of 5,000 in the three years' time.
In fact, there have always been black weeks, like when Digital moved its manufacturing operation to Scotland in 1993 with the loss of 783 jobs, and there have always been wonderful weeks, like this one. For the moment, though, the good times far outweigh the bad. There are now around 40,000 people drawing a salary each month from the technology sector, and IDA Ireland continues to grab the lion's share of US computerrelated investment in Europe.
As a buffer against the cycles of the computer industry - for example, the glut of disk drives that caused Seagate to scale back its production - the Republic now has a spread of products within the high-tech sector. This includes manufacturers of personal computers, large-scale computers, telecommunications equipment, industrial electrical equipment, networking solutions and software.
Behind these are the new callcentres. These have less fixed investment, fewer roots in the business community and are therefore easier for parent companies to relocate. But the competition to attract these centres is limited to Europe and the US - for the moment it is virtually impossible to set up a centre in Asia with staff that can speak 10 European languages.
Even in a severe international slowdown, the theory goes, there would still be a demand for some of these products and services.
At the moment, the IDA says there is an attrition rate of 5 per cent; in other words, for every 20 factories it helps start up, just one will fail.
The agency is particularly proud of the fact that the companies that invest in Ireland are usually pleasantly surprised by how well their operations fare; more than 50 per cent of all the jobs created by the IDA last year came from firms already established here expanding.
But while today's investment and jobs roller-coaster is generally headed upward, there are no guarantees that this will remain the case. "Our future success depends on how competitive we stay," an investment specialist stressed yesterday. "The 12.5 per cent tax rate that has been agreed, the £250 million investment in training to keep our skills base, the low cost-base for supplies and services, these are hugely important."
Getting the mix right - in terms of spreading investment right across the industry, investing heavily in education and keeping corporate profit taxes low - surely stacks the dice in Ireland's favour. It also helps smooth out many of the bumps. Digital, for example, now employs almost as many people designing software and providing customer service as it did in the good old days.
