Cork Convention Bureau Reaction to Convention Centre Announcement

23 December 2014

Yesterday was a very important day for Cork city and county with the announcement that Cork will soon have an international standard 6,000 capacity Convention Centre.

We would like to commend Ann Doherty CEO Cork City Council and her team and the Government for making this happen and congratulate Heineken Ireland/BAM on their successful bid.

We are delighted that after such a long process, a decision on the site has been made and the vital funds from government and Cork City Council made available. Now we need immediate commencement and opening dates. We would also like to commend all of the stakeholders including Cork County Council CEO Tim Lucey and his team, Cork Chamber of Commerce and of course my colleagues in the Cork Convention Bureau.

We would also like to acknowledge O’Callaghan Properties who, although unsuccessful in their bid, campaigned tirelessly for years to ensure that Cork has world class conference and event facilities.

Cork has already been punching above it’s weight on the international stage. In 2014 the Cork Convention Bureau has delivered €9 million in revenue to the Cork region, up from €8.2 million in 2013. This we have done without the confirmation of a Convention Centre and now we look forward to spreading the good news in the new year to all our international contacts and at the many international events that CCB will be promoting Cork at in 2015.

We now have the opportunity to go back to our many contacts who are organising larger scale international conferences and we call on our many CCB Ambassadors to reach out to their international contacts who in the past were unable to bring large scale events to the region due to the lack of facilities. They already realise the benefits of locating events in one of the most welcoming parts of the world and now the final barrier to them bringing their business to Cork is gone.

This news is immense and will mean so much to all sectors of the regional economy. Based on our experience and research we calculate that once the Convention Centre’s doors are open our figure of €9 million should grow to over €40 million, creating a significant increase in jobs in the region and supporting so many Cork businesses, not just in the hospitality sector. This development will have a strong ripple effect across all sectors.

We must all work now to ensure that we have this facility in place at the earliest possible time, that deadlines are met and that all opportunities are maximised. Cork must do what it always does and work together to get the doors open and get even more people flocking to Cork to enjoy our fantastic city and region. It is also an opportunity for stakeholders to prepare now for these new visitors by rejuvenating our city centre, to ensure that Cork is ready to take full advantage of the opportunities that this new development will bring.