Dell headquarters Round Rock, Texas - - Dell was Ireland's largest exporter, until the wind-down of its Limerick plant and has a direct Irish payroll of about 4,000. Dell’s importance to the Irish economy is evidenced by the company’s contribution of at least 5.5 per cent of Irish exports, 2 per cent of GDP and over 4 per cent of all expenditure in the Irish economy.

Dell delivered its long feared Exocet  missile to Limerick today with the announcement of the closure of its iconic PC computer plant of Ireland's Celtic Tiger period with up to 1,900 direct jobs set to be lost. Related contractor and supplier jobs could exceed 1,000.

Dell arrived in Ireland in 1990, just one year after the decision of chip giant Intel to locate a key plant in Leixlip, County Kildare. As the US economy boomed in the 1990's Ireland with with only 1% of Europe's population, attracted up to 25% of all US greenfield industrial investment.

The jump in foreign direct investment fuelled a housing boom that the Government accelerated with promotion incentives including a cut in capital gains tax by half to 20%. In recent years, Ireland had become one of the most expensive countries in the world, a casino economy dominated by an obsession with property and in the aftermath of the bust, today's economy is even more dependent on US firms than it was at the start of the boom.

The Limerick plant was the only one Dell had in Europe and in 2007, it decided to build another plant in Poland. Meanwhile, the No1 PC giant lost its position to Hewlett-Packard, as its dependence on the direct model with technical support from India, had its limitations.

Dell said today it will migrate all production of computer systems for customers in Europe, the Middle East and Africa (EMEA) from Limerick to its Polish facility and third-party manufacturing partners over the next year.

The manufacturing migration will be completed in a phased transition during 2009 and is among a series of steps Dell is taking to simplify operations, improve productivity, reduce costs and deliver even higher levels of customer satisfaction. The move is part of a $3 billion cost-reduction initiative the company announced last year and is being made as a result of an ongoing comprehensive review of Dell's global supply chain.

"We are proud of our 18-year tenure as a major manufacturer in Ireland," said Sean Corkery, vice president of operations, EMEA. "This is a difficult decision, but the right one for Dell to become even more competitive, and deliver greater value to customers in the region."

Dell expects to reduce its Limerick manufacturing workforce by about 1,900 employees over the next 12 months. The initial release of employees will occur in April, with the full transition expected to be
completed by January 2010. Affected workers will receive competitive severance package and career outplacement assistance as they transition from the company.

Several hundred contract staff  have been left in recent months and suppliers in the region will be badly hit.

Dell will continue to employ about 2,000 people in Ireland.

"We will treat affected employees with dignity and respect and offer them every practical support through this extended transition period to minimise the impact on them," said Corkery. "We appreciate the support from the Irish government and the people of Limerick over these many years."

Dell said its employees in Limerick will continue to coordinate EMEA manufacturing, logistics and supply chain activities across a range of functions including product development, engineering, procurement and logistics. The company's Global Innovation Solutions Centre and EMEA Command Centre will remain in Limerick. Dell says it continues its significant  sales, marketing and support activities in Cherrywood, Dublin.