About Crystal Valley Tech:

Elaine Fennelly, founding member, explains that the Tech sector in Ireland’s South East was greatly undersold and so, along with like-minded individuals from SETU and from the Industry, they set about establishing a strong network of companies to come together to represent the regional tech sector to a global audience.

Elaine explains; “there are over 100 tech firms operating in the South East, and yet it was difficult to recruit talent out of the larger cities”. Elaine knew that Waterford had the career opportunities and the lifestyle to attract and retain talent, and Crystal Valley Tech was established to ‘sell’ that to the world!

She also explained that Ireland is graduating 4-5000 Tech Graduates each year, and yet there is a much greater demand from the sector for talented tech staff. These jobs are being filled by international workers – but they are very Dublin-centric. There is an opportunity for Waterford to attract these talented individuals , and retain them with a great quality of life – something they won’t find in Dublin.

“We have the jobs, we have the quality of life, we have clean beaches and mountains. People are looking at their lives in a holistic way, and Waterford ticks all the boxes- you can have a cutting edge career, you can produce software which sells all over the world, and all within 10 minutes from the beach….”

“The salary gap between Waterford and Dublin is quickly closing. Even when you factor in the small salary difference, the cost of living in Waterford is so affordable, that it really makes good sense.”