The games industry is growing hugely in Ireland, with plenty of companies hiring right now. LAURA O’BRIEN finds out what it takes to land a dream job in this field.

Gaming has become a powerful industry, growing from a niche pastime to a multi-billion euro market. Such rapid growth has brought great opportunities, particularly in Ireland where companies such as Demonware, Jolt Online Gaming, PopCap Games, Havok and Gala Networks all have offices.

A survey carried out by Aphra Kerr from National University of Ireland, Maynooth, and Anthony Cawley from University of Limerick showed a 400pc increase in employment in the games industry in Ireland from 2002 to 2009.

For 2011, IDA Ireland predicts 9,000 to 10,000 digital jobs as a result of foreign investment, with particular growth for gaming. Even by taking a quick glance at jobs boards online, numerous games companies are searching for skilled employees who are passionate about the industry.

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Demonware’s former CTO, Sean Blanchfield, with a blog post on learnings from his recent adventures in the Irish venture capital world, and on making “Silicon Liffey” a reality. Sean’s current venture is Front Square Full blog post.

Tony Kelly, CEO of Demonware, pointed out a huge skills gap between Irish and Canadian graduates of computer science programmes, saying they hired 95pc of Canadian interns compared to 10pc of Irish interns.

Speaking to Siliconrepublic.com before yesterday’s Intel Transforming Education In Ireland event, Kelly pointed out that the quality of Canadian graduates of computer science courses is “astonishing.”

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Video from Silicon Republic Interactive Games Associations’ Barry O’Neill and Senator Paschal Donohoe (Fine Gael) announce Ireland’s game industry strategy.

Video on Silicon Republic Fine Gael leader namechecks DemonWare in launching his parties digital gaming strategy for the next five years at Popcap’s Dublin office. Senator Paschal Donohoe (now TD) was instrumental in drafting the paper.