Sun Microsystems (www.sun.ie) is to double its European software centre operations in Dublin. It is negotiating to bring its facility to 40,000 sq ft and is to recruit an additional 65 employees immediately. Sun employs 160 people at Dublin's East Point Business Park, in strategic software engineering roles including software development, software localisation and testing.

The European marketplace currently accounts for approximately 27 per cent of Sun Microsystems' worldwide sales in hardware, software and services.

According to Mr Luke Conroy, general manager of Sun Microsystems Ireland: "The Dublin facility is in many ways identical to Sun's Chief Engineering Centre in Silicon Valley. "To my knowledge, no other multinational or indigenous company is carrying out software research and engineering at the same level that Sun is in Ireland. Based on the high performance of our employees, we have exceeded our growth targets here by at least two years." It is thought this has prompted the commitment to expand the Irish operation.