Ireland's hopes of hosting European Union agencies moving out of London after Brexit have been dashed.
Dublin lost out to Amsterdam and Paris, respectively, in a vote to house the European Medicines Agency (EMA) and the European Banking Authority (EBA).
April 2016 figures show the EMA was made up of 885 staff - 586 of whom are temporary agents and 145 contract. While the EBA had 159 employees.
The relocation of the agencies is a direct consequence of the United Kingdom's decision to leave the European Union.
The voting procedure in Brussels was based on criteria endorsed by the heads of government of the EU27 member states.
Dublin was one of only five cities to bid for both agencies, and was tied in the final vote for the EBA.
Ireland was tied 13 votes to 13 with Paris in the final round, only being beaten by drawing lots - essentially, picking names out of a hat.
The Government had earlier withdrawn from the race to host the EMA in order to focus on its EBA bid.
Foreign Affairs Minister Simon Coveney said he was "absolutely gutted" at the decision:
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Absolutely gutted this evening after losing to Paris in EU vote to host EBA. Dublin beat all other cities + ended up in tie with Paris - only lost out after the Chair had to draw lots to decide a winner. Thanks to a great team, strategy worked but in the end luck was against us!</p>— Simon Coveney (@simoncoveney) <a href="https://twitter.com/simoncoveney/status/932693370996174849?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">November 20, 2017</a></blockquote>
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Mr Coveney and Finance Minister Paschal Donohoe congratulated Paris on being selected as the new location for the EBA.
Minister Coveney said: "The Irish Government made a very strong offer for the EBA to be located in Dublin.
"I wish to acknowledge the work carried out across government departments and agencies on our bid, which was well-received around Europe and viewed as strong and very competitive."
Mr Donohoe added: "I congratulate Paris on being chosen as the new seat of the European Banking Authority.
"It is important that there is a smooth transition and successful relocation for the Authority, its staff and their families."
You can read more about Ireland's bid to host the EBA here
