One of the first companies to take advantage of these new policies was International Mogul Mines of Canada, which expressed interest in the copper reserves of Avoca, Co. Wicklow. The government passed an act in 1956 which gave Mogul, via a subsidiary company named St Patrick’s Copper Mines Ltd, generous terms to develop Avoca. The real possibility of further discoveries of oil and gas in Europe, coupled with the open-arms approach of the Irish authorities towards foreign capital, made Ireland quite an attractive prospect for speculators.