Web Summit adds 40 jobs – and Al Gore
PADDY Cosgrave’s Web Summit is to hire 40 people in the next six months, bringing the company’s total employment to 200.
The company has also announced former US vice president Al Gore and former French president Francois Hollande as headline speakers for the Lisbon-based event in November. European competition commissioner Margrethe Vestager is already confirmed to speak at the conference.
Mr Cosgrave said that the Web Summit, which he cofounded with Daire Hickey and David Kelly, may host future conferences in Ireland. The company is due to hold a financial technology event, Moneyconf, in Dublin next year.
“We’re looking at the potential,” he said. “I think there’s ample opportunity to do other conferences in Ireland.”
Mr Cosgrave also said that he has established a “great working relationship” with Taoiseach Leo Varadkar and the Irish government.
“I was at the recent U2 concert with Leo [Varadkar] and spent a good deal of time chatting to him,” he said. “We’re working in lots of different ways to help each other. We also have a very positive working relationship with the IDA, who have become a partner with us again. That’s going to go from strength to strength.”
Mr Cosgrave said that an anti-corruption campaign he launched in April is still under consideration.
“There might be some movement on emergency legislation that was drafted five years ago but has until now been sitting on ice.”