Cantillon: Latest NYT report on Ireland is closer to the bone

Having been lambasted for the view it took on Ireland in December when it portrayed the populace as being dependent on shooting and grilling pigeons to survive, the New York Times has once again turned its focus on the Emerald Isle.

This time, however, birds are not on the menu. In a more favourable overview of Dublin's start-up scene, the article recognises Ireland's "inventive scrappiness" in trying to position itself as a start-up hub and describes the Grand Canal Docks as a "kind of home away from home for the big Silicon Valley companies like Google and Facebook" .

The article also notes Ireland's relative success in wooing international entrepreneurs to start local companies through its programme of grants and tax breaks, citing the example of Australian Brett Meyers, who co-founded CurrencyFair, a low-cost foreign currency start-up. He had a one-year plan to stay in Ireland, but never left.

However, it also offers some food for thought – not of the pigeon variety – for whoever is appointed to succeed Barry O'Leary as chief executive of IDA Ireland when he steps down later this year.

Last week, the agency responsible for attracting foreign direct investment to Ireland reported its highest level of job creation in over a decade. But if it’s to continue bringing these much-needed jobs into the country, it may need to address the struggle companies face in hiring and retaining talent.

As the New York Times points out, "local entrepreneurs often complain that it remains difficult to hire well-qualified Irish engineers and developers, despite the country's youth unemployment rate of almost 30 per cent".

While it might be easy enough to laugh off the pigeon-eating assertions, it’s perhaps a little bit more difficult to refute claims that Ireland is simply not producing enough tech graduates.