DCC defends role in Web Summit effort

Dublin City Council has defended its role in attempting to keep the Web Summit in the capital, saying it continues to offer every possible support to organisers for this year’s event.

The council has compiled a report detailing its support of the event, which will be held in Lisbon from next year after organisers took the decision to leave Dublin following a perceived lack of involvement from relevant stakeholders.

In correspondences with the Taoiseach’s department in the lead-up to his decision to uproot the event to the Portuguese capital, Web Summit co-founder Paddy Cosgrave was highly critical of the Government for what he considered to be insufficient coordination of and buy-in from other agencies.

Dublin City Council (DCC) made its “one stop shop” event management team, which brings together relevant council departments, transport bodies, and An Garda Síochána, available to the summit organisers, it was claimed.

It added that the technology conference is “in no way” as complicated as other major events held in the city, such as the 2012 Tall Ships Festival, the Dublin Marathon, or last year’s Giro D’Italia.

Despite not usually involving itself in large-scale events held in commercial venues such as the RDS, the expansion of the Web Summit into Herbert Park with the Food Summit in 2013 was the catalyst for its involvement.

In addition to helping coordinate the Food Summit, it also assisted with the Web Summit as a whole, the council outlined.

DCC deputy chief executive and author of the report Brendan Kenny also outlined some of the requests that organisers had made of the council.

According to the report, Web Summit organisers requested the closure of five city centre streets — Fade St, Stephen St South, Upper Drury St, South William St and Dame Court/ Dame Lane — during the evening to facilitate delegates and complement exclusivity deals struck with pubs and other venues.

This request was ultimately declined, as was a proposed closure of Simmonscourt Rd to allow attendees to pass freely from the RDS to nearby Herbert Park.

“In comparing the Web Summit to other events it is important to note that this event is held during the week and during normal business hours,” Mr Kenny wrote.

Approximately 40 venues were offered for ancillary Web Summit events, including Dublin City Hall and the Mansion House.

External bodies such as the gardaí, Dublin Bus, and the Irish Hotels Federation are also praised in the report for their support of the event.