Three submissions to build national conference centre

John O'Donoghue, TD, Minister for Arts, Sport and Tourism, said today that four submissions have been received in response to the Office of Public Works' advertisement for expressions of interest to build a National Conference Centre in Dublin.

The Minister said that he was pleased with the level of interest in participating in the competition. "The fact that there are as many as four candidates will enhance the competitive nature of the process," he said.

All submissions will now undergo evaluation by an assessment panel representative of the Office of Public Works, the Department of Finance and the Development Finance agency.

The minister said he expects the next stage of the process, whereby qualified candidates with acceptable sites will be invited to submit a "response to site proposal", to be initiated next month.

"Subject to the acceptability of proposals, the National Conference Centre could, as envisaged under the process, be constructed before end 2007," he added.

Earlier this month, Fáilte Ireland's chairman Gillian Bowler called for the delivery of three major projects to be built without delay: a national conference centre, a new sports stadium and a new Dublin airport terminal.

"Without these, the picture for 2006 and beyond looks stagnant at best and the momentum of recent years will not be sustained," she warned.