Agreed, I'm an Irish native who left for Scotland a few years ago. Frankly I'd be mega-surprised if there is a dynamic fast-paced IT industry in Ireland. I'd love to be proven wrong if someone else can chime in.
Take a trip to the docks in Dublin and you'll find a bustling tech sector with some huge tech companies (albeit some just for business), a collection of startups and even an incubator round the corner. Only for I'm based in Galway, I'd dive into it.