Sunday Business Post Sunday

Thursday, 17 May 2007

The €380 million National Conference Centre will open on September 1, 2010, and is to be renamed the Convention Centre, Dublin. The two announcements will be made on Tuesday at a meeting of the centre's key stakeholders, including Taoiseach Bertie Ahern, at the state apartments in Dublin Castle.
During the meeting, the centre's management team will give a detailed presentation on all aspects of the facility, which is to be located at Spencer Dock in Dublin. The meeting will also be attended by members of the political, business and academic communities. Dermod Dwyer, executive chairman of the Spencer Dock Convention Centre Dublin, confirmed that the official launch of the centre would take place this week. Dwyer said; "Tuesday will be about launching our new brand and our new name. Up to now, it has been known as the National Conference Centre, but the word 'conference' is very limiting, and the word 'national' is very limiting as well. The Convention Centre, Dublin is a strong statement - it does what it says on the tin."
Last April, the government finally awarded a contract to the Spencer Dock consortium to build the €380 million conference centre, and maintain and operate it for 25 years. In addition, it will build a 250-bedroom hotel adjacent to the centre. The Spencer Dock consortium includes Johnny Ronan and Richard Barrett, the directors of property development firm Treasury Holdings, and businessman Harry Crosbie, who owns the Point Theatre. CIE, the state rail agency, is also a partner in the project. Nick Waight, the chief executive of the centre, said they had recently agreed on an opening date of September 1, 2010. He said preliminary construction work was already under way, and that he was confident of meeting the deadline. Waight said that, each year, the centre expected to host about 200 events and bring about 30,000 international conference delegates to Ireland. "Thirty thousand is a tough target, but it is achievable. It is certainly not going to happen overnight, and it is something that we have to work up to. We are not daunted by it," said Waight.
Under the terms of the Public Private Partnership, the government can penalise the Spencer Dock consortium if it does not attract 30,000 international conference delegates to Ireland each year.