CEO of Apple, Tim Cook, was honoured at a special ‘Looking to the Future’ event in the National Concert Hall this morning.

IDA Ireland’s inaugural ‘Special Recognition Award’ recognises the contribution of IDA clients to Ireland and was presented by An Taoiseach, Leo Varadkar.

Today Apple is Cork’s largest employer with 6,000 people of over 100 different nationalities and is a global operation.

An Taoiseach addressed the 1000-strong audience of invited guests drawn from IDA client companies, key stakeholders, business people as well as some Apple and IDA Ireland employees and presented the award to Tim Cook alongside Martin Shanahan and IDA Chairman Frank Ryan. This was followed by a keynote address from the Apple CEO and a conversation with Tim Cook and Martin Shanahan.

IDA said that the event would showcase internationally Ireland as a location for FDI and focus on the excellent Irish Tech talent that is available.

Speaking yesterday, Apple’s CEO, Tim Cook said, "Ireland has been a second home for Apple for forty years and this honour is even more special for us because it recognizes the contributions of our incredible team here who work tirelessly to serve our customers around the country, and around the world. I believe deeply that our most important work together is still ahead of us, and I’m grateful to the people of Ireland for their commitment to openness, to innovation and to the cooperation that will make possible the next generation of world-changing ideas."

An Taoiseach, Leo Varadkar added, "Only four years after it was founded, Apple opened a factory in Hollyhill in Cork, employing 60 people. Today Apple is Cork’s largest employer with 6,000 people of over 100 different nationalities and is a global operation. During this period Ireland has become the tech capital of Europe."

Source: www.businessworld.ie