Well that didn't take too long. Less than a year after Electronic Arts announced that it would open its customer service center in Galway, Ireland to handle customer services for various game properties in the region, the company has already started laying off staff. EA has been quietly cutting staff and reducing its workforce in the last week or so as part of a cost-cutting measure.

More bad news for employees of HMV - particularly those 300 employees that worked for the UK-based retailer in Ireland. The Ireland-based division of the company has been shut down and some 300 employees are to be affected by the closures, according to a report in the Irish Examiner. All 16 of HMV’s stores have been closed according to the report, and the company has admitted that it was unable to find a buyer and that the stores would remain closed.

New research sponsored by the Centre for Ageing Research and Development in Ireland (also known as CARDI) suggest that using video games can help the elderly improve their balance and avoid falls that are often devastating and debilitating.

Mark Methenitis, proprietor of the wonderful Law of the Game blog, will be crossing the pond to attend the International Bar Association Annual Conference in Dublin, Ireland (Sept. 30 - Oct. 5).

MCV has confirmed with parent company electronic Arts that the publisher has closed its Dublin, Ireland PopCap Games office and laid off its entire staff. The news comes on the heels of 50 layoffs last month at its PopCap Seattle office and an unspecified number of employees let go from its Irish operations.

While America continues to flounder when it comes to broadband connection speeds, politicians in Ireland are doing everything they can to make things better for its citizens. According to this Ars Technica report, Ireland's Communications Minister Pat Rabbitte has outlined a new broadband plan for Ireland that calls for a "minimum of 30Mbps for every remaining home and business in the country—no matter how rural or remote."

According to a report from MCV, U.S. games retailer GameStop has closed down stores in Northern Ireland this week. The company had three stores in the region, and why it has decided to close them down is unknown at this time. According to web site TheGamingLiberty, employees were told about the closures on January 22.

Ireland Prime Minister Enda Kenny announced this week a comprehensive plan to attract more game development companies to the country by means of flexible incentive packages. Newly formed trade organization Games Ireland supports the move and hopes it will change the culture of games development in the country. "All the biggest brands in the world are almost here now," Games Ireland's communications director Paul Hayes told GamesIndustry.biz. "We just need to change the narrative and the types of projects they're doing.

Electronic Arts announced the launch of BioWare Ireland, a new customer service center located in Galway, Ireland. The new facility will employ about 400 employees and will focus on providing customer service to players of the upcoming MMO, Star Wars: The Old Republic. BioWare's first MMO will be released on December 20th in North America and December 22nd in Europe.

The High Court in Belfast, Ireland has ordered a 13-year-old boy to surrender his Xbox 360 as a condition of being released from jail. The boy, whose name was withheld because he is a minor, was being held in jail for allegedly committing a number of burglaries in the Downpatrick area of Co Down.

During a hearing to obtain a release the boy was asked what was the most important thing he owned. He responded by saying that his Xbox 360 meant a lot to him.

The judge then ordered him to give the Xbox 360 to the authorities as a condition of release. He added that it would be returned to him when the charges were dealt with.

The judge told the boy that he was taking the Xbox 360 to show him what it was like to have something he valued taken from him.

The Irish government is seriously considering bringing tax breaks to the video game industry in the country, and UK industry trade group Tiga is obviously pleased. Irish Culture Minister Jimmy Deenihan spoke of the video game sector in Ireland as “an enormous global industry with great potential and benefit for job creation" during discussions in the Oireachtas, the Irish National Parliament. A development tax credit would certainly create jobs, which is important no matter what you believe about games.

The conversation among Irish government leaders is also getting praise from Tiga:

The Irish government-backed Enterprise Ireland organization has announced the launch of a €500,000 fund designed to assist technology-driven start up companies get off the ground.

The Internet and Games Competitive Start Fund will help provide “critical early stage funding,” and will be introduced on a pilot basis to 10 operatives in the Internet and Games sector, each of whom will receive “an equity investment of €50,000 for a 10% ordinary equity stake.”

Each start up will also benefit from being assigned an “an experienced business mentor.”

Frank Ryan, Chief Executive Officer of Enterprise Ireland, added:

The Irish aren’t too happy about the name of a town drunk in the just-released Red Dead Redemption.

An article on the Herald website notes that “The stereotype of the drunken Paddy will again be taken advantage of, as the game's town drunk is called "Irish". A description of the character, which the Herald took from a “popular gaming forum”, describes Irish as “the town drunk. Usually found stumbling around and getting into trouble with sober townsfolk while attempting to talk his way out".

Rockstar itself painted the character as “A teller of tall tales, who’ll try to talk his way out of anything.” Another piece of character artwork offered has Irish, while brandishing a liquor bottle, stating, “I was real drunk. You know how it is.”

While UK bookmakers are infamous for taking bets on just about anything, a counterpart of theirs in Ireland is going a step further and accepting wagers on a videogame match.

Dublin-based Paddy Power is taking wagers on who will win a Super Street Fighter IV match between Ryan Hart and Femi Adeboye, billed as two of the UK’s “most respected players.” The match is scheduled for April 29 and will take place at Capcom’s European headquarters. Paddy Power will offer a live stream of the event.

Paddy Power’s own Paddy Power stated, “We wanted to offer sports fans and games players the ultimate thrill by offering the chance to win big on the outcome of a Super Street Fighter IV competition. If it proves popular, we'll open further books on other videogame competitions."