Brains behind Web summit bids Dublin farewell

Web Summit CEO Paddy Cosgrave bade an emotional farewell to Dublin last night as the conference that he founded in 2011 moves to Lisbon.

“To the community in Dublin I salute you, to all of the people around Ireland that have supported us through the last five years I salute you, I thank you from the bottom of my heart. We’re leaving but we hope to come back in the future,” Mr Cosgrave said in his closing remarks as the Web Summit came to an end last night.

His comments came as a Fine Gael TD criticised the Government’s dealings with the Web Summit organisers, which saw the conference organisers sign a three-year deal for it to be held in Lisbon.