Dublin culture app goes live

A new virtual cultural trail which enables people to remotely tour 16 of the capital's most popular attractions has gone live.

The Dublin Culture Trail is a free interactive website and iPhone app which allows users to visit many of the city's museums, galleries, historic buildings and cultural centres through video, photographs, interviews and behind the scenes footage.

Among the attractions included are Trinity College, the Irish Museum of Modern Art, the Chester Beatty Library, The GPO and City Hall.

Speaking at the launch of the virtual trail in Trinity College this morning, Senator David Norris said it would allow cultural institutions to make their collections more accessible to both locals and tourists.

"The trail is fantastic because it combines creativity, imagination and new technology which together brings collections alive to everyone," he said.

The trail is an initiative of the Temple Bar Cultural Trust, which also organises the popular Culture Night event which takes place each September. A number of local technology firms based in the Digital Hub were also involved in the development of the app.

Grainne Millar, head of cultural development at the trust said this was the first time that a programme such as this had been developed. She added that the trail could grow audiences in participating venues by as much as 20 per cent in its first year alone.

"The culture trail opens up a whole new experience for locals and tourists and provides a great opportunity to encourage greater use of our attractions at a time of scarce resources," she said.

The app can be downloaded for free from the iPhone app store. For further information see www.dublinculturetrail.ie

The venues which feature on the Dublin Culture Trail include:

1. Irish Museum of Modern Art

2. National Museum of Ireland – Collins' Barracks

3. Christ Church Cathedral

4. Chester Beatty Library

5. City Hall

6. Projects Arts Centre

7. National Photographic Archive

8. Meeting House Square

9. Temple Bar Gallery and Studios

10. Graphic Studio Gallery

11. Trinity College Dublin

12. National Museum of Ireland – The Natural History Museum

13. The Irish Traditional Music Archive

14. Dublin City Gallery – The Hugh Lane

15. James Joyce Centre

16. The GPO