€400m conference centre to be ready by 2009

The State's first national conference centre, to be built at Spencer Dock in Dublin, is unlikely to be operational before 2009, it has emerged.

A consortium headed by Treasury Holdings and Irish Rail was yesterday announced as the winner of the competition to build the much-delayed €400 million project.

Minister for Arts, Sport and Tourism John O'Donoghue announced he was inviting the Spencer Dock consortium to become the "provisional preferred tenderer" to build the the 2,000-capacity purpose-built centre.

Tourism interests warmly welcomed the announcement and called for the centre, which includes a 250-bed five-star hotel, to be built as soon as possible. The development is expected to generate an additional €50 million in tourism revenue each year.

The Office of Public Works will now open negotiations with the consortium to finalise the terms of the project, to be built as a public private partnership (PPP). These are not expected to be completed until the end of next year, informed sources said last night. Subject to Government approval, construction would then start in 2007 with the aim of completing work in 2009.

Irish-born architect Kevin Roche, who designed New York's Metropolitan Museum of Art, also designed the centre to be located on the banks of the Liffey and the Royal Canal. Planning permission has already been obtained.

Mr O'Donoghue's decision ends several decades of controversy and false starts over the location of a conference centre, with various sites such as the Phoenix Park racecourse and the Carlton Cinema mooted.

The Minister said last night he was "totally convinced" of the need for a modern, dedicated conference centre to help Ireland realise its full potential in the international conference market.

"I am delighted that a further critical stage in the process of delivering a world-class national conference centre for Dublin has been completed. I look forward to the early completion of the next stages and to a final decision by Government next year."

Under the PPP arrangement, the State will pay an annual rent to Spencer Dock for use of the centre. Ownership will then revert to the State after a specified period, to be negotiated.

The president of the Irish Hotels Federation, Richard Bourke, said international conferences had long lead-in times, so business planning for the centre could start now. "The unveiling of the centre will have as significant an impact on Irish tourism as did the announcement of the Ryder Cup coming to Ireland."

The Spencer Dock consortium defeated its only remaining rival, the Anna Livia consortium comprising Bennett Construction, Earlsfort Centre (Developments) and Kilsaran Concrete, which planned to build on land owned by Dublin Port Company.

The winning group said it would "immediately engage" with the OPW to finalise the contractual details and get on with the job of building the centre.