Leah Fairman By Leah Fairman

| 11 October 2023

Joining the Tech Tribe in Galway

It was once known as the City of Tribes. But where once the different merchant families of Galway held court, these days it’s experts from another walk of life that are attracting companies like Liberty IT to its environs. Just ask Darren Muldoon, site lead of Liberty IT’s Galway operations, who are based in PorterShed, one of the West’s key Connected Hub locations.

‘Galway is a brilliant city which I think everyone knows for its cobbled street and really vibrant social scene, but from a technology perspective, there is so much going on here as well which is what we really find helpful for our team,’ he says. There are a lot of start-ups and a really strong culture of networking and meet-ups, along with great universities with strong technology graduates that are very connected into industry.’

‘For us, Galway is an ideal base because of all of these elements, and working from the PorterShed really allows us to be part of that community which is brilliant.’  With a team based around Ireland in locations in Dublin and Belfast as well, Liberty IT added its Galway base in PorterShed after exploring the best space for its West of Ireland team to begin to grow. A subsidiary of Liberty Mutual Insurance, with offices in Dublin and Belfast, the organisation employs more than 650 people across Ireland. 

From this new base in the West, the team not only work closely with colleagues across Ireland, but also across the US. ‘We’re on a growth journey here in Galway,’ Darren explains, ‘and we have plans to continue to grow our team.’ 

‘For us, the PorterShed offers us both the room for our developers to work individually when they come into the office from a dedicated bank of desks, but also, meeting rooms where we can come together and whiteboard complex technological problems. And there is an innovation and townhall space that we can use for wider meetings or to bring in external partners and companies.’

PorterShed’s support of the wider meet-up environment is also a huge bonus for the Liberty IT team, who specialise in Cloud Native development, which involves the software approach of building and managing modern applications in cloud computing environments. ‘Our team have a wide interest in a lot of areas in technology,’ Darren says, ‘for instance, at a recent meet-up, we spoke to the need for sustainable engineering practices and how we can support that in our day-to-day work.’ ‘And the space here in PorterShed not only has a lot of their own events scheduled but gives us the chance to host meet-ups in a dedicated space and to bring in our colleagues and speakers from around Ireland to join in the discussions and to share knowledge.’

For new starters to the team, the Connected Hubs network also offers the perfect chance to make new connections. Darren adds: ‘The team in the Hub are really exceptional – and they think of every detail or element that can help companies like us who are based here.’ ‘There is a networking morning coming up soon for example so that everyone working here can meet up and connect. For our team who have started recently, this is a great opportunity to meet new people and to start feeling part of the wider Hub.’

Located across Ireland, the Connected Hubs network offers a host of flexible working spaces for businesses at over 300 locations. Find out what sort of space would suit your business’ needs here.

Want to learn more about how Connected Hubs can support your business?

To access our dedicated business support service complete the contact form and we'll be in touch.  You can also find more information on our website.

Or email us at  info@connectedhubs.ie  Tel:+353(0)949861441

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