NEWS that Googlewill employ around 200 people in new offices in East Point business park has delighted a lot of people – and one of them is an agent who lives there and decided to set up business in the area two-and-a-half years ago.

About one in five Google employees already rents in docklands, reckons Owen O'Reilly. And as it's about a 20-minute walk from the business park to the docklands, new staff may be keen to rent there too. It should keep his business in docklands ticking over nicely. He even thinks some Google staff who've been here three or four years are now interested in buying.

Business doesn’t just come from Google of course: places like Facebook, HSBC, US firm State Street Bank (which opened a few months ago) not to mention all those law firms are packed with bright young professionals looking for places to live. And the Grand Canal Dock area has become one of Dublin’s trendiest spots since the opening of the Grand Canal Theatre which has brought crowds in at night-time.

O’Reilly lived next to the theatre before then and the area reminded him of Canary Wharf in London. That’s when he decided to open for business in the neighbourhood.

Smart move.