CITIBANK'S decision yesterday to employ up to 1,000 people in a Dublin "back office" operation came after a hard sell by an Irish team in New York City and represents the most glittering jewel so far in a new drive to attract such investment.

In April, the Taoiseach, Mr Bruton, called a gathering in Dublin Castle of many of the top international banks located in the International Financial Services Centre. He told them that the Irish economy was defying the slowdown elsewhere and growing at a rapid pace.

He pointed to the language of Irish graduates and the low corporate tax rate for international companies.

And he said that Ireland was ready to provide their IFSC operations with "back offices" - administrative centres dealing with administration, data processing, software services, customer support and teleservices that could deal with clients across Europe and beyond.

Specialists within IDA Ireland had already noted that Citibank employed 140 people in the IFSC, and that a Dublin back office might dovetail with the bank's global strategy. They began discussions with Citibank, but as the months wore on, they could not quite nail down a deal.

On September 24th, the Taoiseach's brother, the Minister for Enterprise and Employment, Mr Bruton, and Mr Kieran McGowan, the IDA's chief executive, led a delegation to the United States. In Citibank's Manhattan headquarters, they engaged in hardsell tactics, persuading the bank's top executives that Ireland's low wages, skilled workforce and low cost telecommunications made up an irresistible package.