Ryan Smith, the 35-year-old founder of and chief executive officer of research software company Qualtrics, blogged on the Wall Street Journal recently that his company has taken on 50 people in Dublin since it began hiring last October.

Smith has previously said he hopes eventually to take that number to 150 as Qualtrics, which was valued at $500 million last year, pushes into Europe.

Smith was effusive about Dublin, calling it a “talent factory” thanks to its “top universities”.

The IDA, Ireland’s inward investment agency, has certainly played a blinder luring up-and-coming tech firms like Qualtrics into Ireland when they look to move into Europe.

But it has not been all hits. Last week Dublin quietly missed out on 100 jobs when Egnyte, a Silicon Valley-based business file-sharing firm, picked London over our capital.

In an interview Vineet Jain, chief executive of Egnyte, said he looked at Dublin but dismissed it for London, which was "the most vibrant tech hub in Europe". Ouch.