Facebook picks Dublin for international HQ

Social networking website Facebook plans to establish a new "international headquarters" in the Irish capital of Dublin.

The Dublin HQ will house Facebook's sales and support staff catering to its Europe, Middle East, and Africa users, the Irish Times reports. Its current commercial office in London will not be affected by the new base of operations.

Facebook's chief of online operations Don Faul told the Times that Dublin was chosen because of its "really strong, multi-lingual talent pool," and the Irish government's being "a great partner" for tech companies expanding abroad — viz: a low corporate tax rate.

Other tech companies like Google, Yahoo, Amazon and eBay have set up European bases of operation in Dublin as well.

Facebook refused to speculate as to how many jobs would be created with the move, stating only that the Dublin HQ "would be starting small." ®