EUROPE – An Irish member of parliament has called for the idea of a convention centre in Cork to be fully explored.
Fine Gael Cork South Central Deputy, Jerry Buttimer, had raised the issue of the economic benefits of convention centres with the Republic’s Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport, Leo Varadkar, TD, and Fáilte Ireland.
Buttimer said the approach had met with “a favourable response”, with Varadkar suggesting a similar model to the one used for the Dublin Convention Centre, or a loan or equity investment from the Strategic Infrastructure Fund.
Buttimer said: “The Convention Centre Dublin was developed using the Public Private Partnership (PPP) model. At the end of the PPP it will be returned to public ownership. It is imperative that the Department, Fáilte Ireland and Cork City Council actively explore the funding models which could be used to make such a project a reality.
“This process should commence as soon as possible so that a project of this scale can deliver jobs, boost tourism and contribute to our local economy.”
Buttimer added that convention centres had the potential to contribute substantial financial benefits to local economies, particularly so when larger conferences, which cater for between 1,000 and 6,000 delegates, can be hosted.
“International conferences bring high yield visitors, generating revenue of two to three times that of a leisure tourist,” he added. “It is important that Cork is in a position to attract these high value events and visitors and that we can compete to host events of this size.”
Back in April 2013, Minister for Agriculture Simon Coveney (and also a TD for Cork South Central) had predicted a final decision to begin work on a conference centre in Cork would be made this year.
“I’m happy to stake my reputation on making that convention centre happen, it’s important that it happens and I think everyone wants to see it happen,” he said at the time.
“Cork needs a big events/convention centre, and it is going to happen. It’s a question of where and how it’s funded. I have been working with the city manger in particular and also a number of the councillors to try and make this happen as soon as possible,” the Minister had said.
Two event centres had planning permission at the time – a Howard Holdings proposal in the docklands, and a proposal to develop the former Beamish Brewery site by Bam/Heineken.
“We need big events in Cork. This is a great city, it’s an events city in many ways. It’s not a coincidence that big events centre operators want to come and operate in Cork, they just don’t have the infrastructure to do it yet,” the minister added.
A convention centre, Coveney said, would trigger the building of at least one if not two new hotels in the city.
“We don’t have enough beds in the city, never mind if we have a big events and convention centre,” he said.
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