Well, it was predictable. And, true, it was too expensive for the company to keep manufacture in Ireland. That a sad moment, but it was dictated by the Law of Marketing

Eugene, Limerick, Ireland

When I left Ireland in 1987 the Celtic Tiger hadn't been born. There were no jobs but there was a highly educated and cheap work force, low corporate tax and generous government grants. Dell, IBM et al piled in in the '90s. Now it's Poland's turn. Better learn Polish. Or Hungarian. Or Romanian.

Phelim Scallon, London,

The Irish resurgence was always based on transitory government assistance (mainly from the EU) rather than fundamentals. It couldn't last; Eire should be grateful for the good times and now find where it has a competitive advantage without government distortions.

Faustino, Brisbane, Australia

Now you know how we feel when we watch our jobs being shipped over seas. look at all of the jobs lost throughout what is called the rust belt. Pittsburgh and the rest of the cities within that belt have never recovered from the loss of U.S. manufactured steel. Good luck Ireland, you will need it

Ben, Pittsburgh, PA, USA

Why would you pay a huge salary for someone on an assembly line? This type of work is suited to a low cost economy and not one with a high cost base like Ireland. Tony Blair's famous lines springs to mind: Education Education Education, without it we will have nothing.

John White, London, UK

Shouldn't be of any concern as the loss of Dell is easily outweighed by benefit of continously rising house prices...

Nick B, London,

I bet they have a tax free grant for their new factory.

and I bet they do not pay any tax for a few years.

If I remember Dell had the same offer when the factory first openned in Ireland

Nicholas Iles, Oswestry, Shropshire, United Kingdom

The Irish party had to come to an end. As a tourist one could only wonder about the incredible Irish prices, particularly in a village like Limerick (as expensive as London!). The house price bubble was even much bigger than in the UK. Obviously a not sustainable bubble economy.

Peter, Liverpool, UK

Well in this day and age wouldn't it be somewhat ironic if all the current Dell employees upped and left Ireland for Poland to be re-employed in the same job. Lets put the shoe on the other foot and see what is said about that.

Ian Stacey, St Albans, England

This is the problem with manufacturing in the expanded EU, it can easily go where the labour is cheapest. Expect to see car firms making similar moves, except of course from France where the government looks after manufacturing properly.

Colin, Shrewsbury,

This issue needs examining in detail. Last year a number of factories in Ireland closed after EU subsidies that had brought them there ended. Now the EU subsidies are going to Poland. Clearly firms and jobs are simply chasing subsidy money. Look at Dell and Lodz.

MarkS, Leeds,

that's globalisation folks.Here today and gone the day after tomorrow. Guess who picks up the tab for unemployment benefits

bob holmes, axbridge , England

Well the righting was on the wall for ireland when many Hi-Tech manufacturing firms were shutting down and moving to eastern europe during the boom years, the government did nothing to retain are previous competiveness as they thought the property bubble would last forever.

john coogan, navan, meath