Irish tech firm plans up to 50 development hires

Capital markets technology firm First Derivatives is set to add another 40-50 development staff in Dublin, Belfast and Newry after kick-starting a new R&D project.

The Newry-based company has been on an aggressive recruitment spree for some time now, having added 142 new jobs over the last year.

A fresh injection of cash from Invest Northern Ireland and the European Regional Development Fund - 1.2m to be precise - will allow it to recruit additional technical staff in Ireland. First Derivatives has received a total investment of 4.1m to fund research and development projects.

The new research projects will be around developing products to deal with real time risk and data management, and First Derivatives expects to add development staff with Java and C# skills as well as database architects and business analysts, says Fearghal McGovern, business development manager at the firm.

McGovern admits it may be challenging to find 40-50 development staff within the comparatively limited talent pool in Ireland and concedes that they may look internationally for new recruits.

"We believe that this latest investment in research and development will contribute significantly to the company's growth," added Brian Conlon, CEO of First Derivatives.