Business is at the heart of a blooming connection between the capital and San Jose and a direct air link may be next move, writes Karlin Lillington

This year, just as every year for the past two decades, a crowd of Dubliners interested in technology, research and development found themselves in the Silicon Valley heartland of San Jose over the week surrounding St Patrick's Day.

A junket? Only if you would cast aspersions on a little-known relationship between Dublin and San Jose that has been paying economic and cultural dividends on both sides for 20 years.

It will no doubt come as a surprise to many that the Irish capital and the Silicon Valley city are formally sister cities.

Dubliners may be less surprised to discover the relationship emerged after a few pints in a Dublin pub in 1986 when the then mayor of San Jose, Tom McEnery, was quaffing in the company of one Bertie Ahern, then mayor of Dublin.

"The two of them were apparently left talking in a pub in Dublin and realised, because of the growing technology connection and long-term cultural and social ties, that there were real possibilities in becoming sister cities," says David Oliver, an expat Irishman active in the biotechnology industry in Silicon Valley, and San Jose president of the San Jose and Dublin Sister City Programme.

Featuring - but of course - its own website (www.sanjosedublin.org), the organisation on the San Jose end received much local news coverage this year because the guest of honour for their annual Spirit of Ireland dinner during St Patrick's week celebrations was none other than the Taoiseach.

On the Dublin end, the relationship is largely driven by Dublin City Council through city manager John Fitzpatrick's office.

However, from very early on, IDA Ireland and Enterprise Ireland realised they were on to a good thing and pushed the relationship as a means of introducing Valley technology companies to Ireland, and opening doors into the Valley for Irish technology firms, says Oliver.

While the organisation in San Jose officially encompasses the promotion of "cultural, economic, artistic and sporting ties between San Jose and Dublin as well as Silicon Valley", the major focus in annual visits by key Dubliners to San Jose and biennial visits of Valleyites to Dublin has been economic and, more specifically, technology-driven, Oliver says.

"The main task has always been business because around the time the relationship was set up, the IDA was making a big push into Silicon Valley," he says. "They really jumped on it and made it a vehicle for making introductions. Enterprise Ireland has also played a role as a strong supporter."

Insiders who have been on the annual trips in the past say it is no coincidence that Ireland's swift development as a European base for many of Silicon Valley's key ICT companies mirrors the timespan of the sister city programme.

The Dublin Chamber of Commerce is another group that has always been actively involved and policy and communications executive Cian Connaughton says the annual trips are usually attended by the chamber, as well as several business members who have worked to develop links with the technology industry.

Past participants point to some direct benefits from the exchanges. Dr Pat Frain, director of University College Dublin's Nova innovation centre, says UCD developed a strong relationship with Valley stalwart Xilinx, that led to major investment from the firm into Nova.

Frain also notes that UCD has been able to develop an exchange programme with San Jose State University and a very beneficial connection to the man who heads the intellectual property licensing office at Stanford University - one of the biggest engines for technological innovation in the region. He has since been to UCD several times to present seminars and advise Nova, he says.

One participant of this year's trip, Trinity College's director of innovation services, Dr Eoin O'Neill, says: "Back in Dublin I am now dealing with a Silicon Valley start-up based on laser technology which is investigating some medical research collaboration in TCD."

This year's trip also produced the offer by a prominent Valley venture capitalist to speak at a Dublin event, the possibility of programmes between Irish and Californian universities, and perhaps some links to the technology company incubator network in the Valley.

O'Neill says there are always several organised trips to technology centres and opportunities to talk to key executives. This year included a visit to a biotech incubator facility called the BioCenter, as well as to an IBM research centre.

A trip to eBay prompted a question from some of the politicians on the tour as to why the company opened its 800-plus employee facility in Dublin. The response was "the IDA's and Irish universities' dream answer", O'Neill says: "They found well-educated people there, the financial and tax arrangements are appropriate, our largest European markets use the euro, and the whole society and Government are up with the action."

But it isn't simply what San Jose can do for Dublin on the economic front.

Oliver says that when a party comes over this September from San Jose, a primary point of discussion will be how Ireland has done so well in promoting the development of its biotechnology industry.

Perhaps surprisingly, biotech is not a strong area of development in Silicon Valley, says Oliver, and Valley executives are interested in learning from the Irish on this one.

A long-time concern on both the Irish and San Jose side has been getting a direct flight between the San Francisco Bay Area and Dublin, says Oliver and several of the participants.

According to Oliver, lobbying of Aer Lingus officials by both San Francisco and San Jose has intensified with the likely approval of the open skies agreement next year, which would allow additional flights to and from the US.

Aer Lingus already has landing rights at San Jose's airport, says Oliver, and San Jose is intent on getting the airline in, either directly or through its codeshare partner American Airlines. The city's officials are hoping a direct flight into the Valley will boost opportunities for economic links between the two regions enormously - and fill the front of the plane with business executives as well as tourists.

Oliver acknowledges San Francisco has also mounted "an aggressive campaign", with Aer Lingus officials over for talks in recent months.

He is "cautiously optimistic" that a direct Bay Area-Dublin flight will be operating within two years. If so, participants say the ease of a direct connection will make many on both sides of the Atlantic very happy.

Whatever happens, the relationship holds continuing promise for developing the behind the scenes links that translate into economic, research and cultural growth.

Says O'Neill: "The opportunities going forward for this collaboration are boundless: they are limited by what each city is willing to invest in a partnership."