DUBLIN HAS beaten international competitors for the right to host the prestigious European City of Science meeting in July 2012.
The meeting, described as Europe's Olympics of science, will bring an estimated 8,000 visitors to the city for the five-day event.
The city beat tough competition from Vienna, which for a time had been considered front-runner to capture the event.
News of the win emerged yesterday, 11 days after a team led by the Government's chief scientific adviser Prof Patrick Cunningham made their final bid to an international 10-member adjudication panel sitting in Stuttgart.
"It is fantastic. I was particularly pleased it was a unanimous decision," Prof Cunningham said of the 10 to nil vote yesterday.
The event is expected to be held in the Treasury Holdings-backed convention centre, currently under construction on the river Liffey's north quays. The centre was designated as the venue in Dublin's formal European City of Science bid which Prof Cunningham and his team submitted in Strasbourg on September 22nd.
The group assembled to fight Dublin's case enlisted the support of 90 leading technology companies who are now considered as potential sponsors for the meeting.
Former president Mary Robinson was selected to chair a "patrons" group of 20 leading figures including former attorney general Peter Sutherland, who campaigned on behalf of Dublin.
Taoiseach Brian Cowen in a statement yesterday thanked the team for its efforts and the "grass-roots approach" to the organisation of the event.