Web Summit’s Move to Portugal Dents Dublin’s Image as a Tech Hub

  • Event set to move to Lisbon after five years in Irish Capital
  • Gathering is the world's largest startup event each year

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After five years, Dublin and the Web Summit are breaking up.

The decision to move the world’s largest gathering of startups to Lisbon next year is a blow to Dublin’s efforts to portray itself as Europe’s Silicon Valley and has cast a pall over the event’s kickoff Tuesday, with the Web Summit and Irish government defending their positions. The back-and-forth escalated with event founder Paddy Cosgrave last month releasing a cache of e-mail correspondence.