Paul O'Connell: €30m 'world rugby experience' on track to open in Limerick in autumn 2022
Irish rugby legend Paul O’Connell said the interactive world rugby experience aims to attract 100,000 visitors per annum. Picture: ©INPHO/Tommy Dickson
A €30m interactive world rugby experience is on track to open its doors in the heart of Limerick city in autumn 2022 despite suffering delays in the construction stages due to Covid-19.
Financed by a Charitable Entities group owned by billionaire horse racing owner JP McManus, the 30,000 sq ft “state-of-the-art” rugby experience has already created 100 construction jobs, and will create a further 50 staff posts when it opens.
Visitors to the international rugby experience, which is being constructed on O’Connell Street, Limerick, will be able to score a try, kick a conversion at their favourite rugby ground, pass the ball to their favourite rugby hero, or side-step tackles on a sequence of changing floor lights.
Irish rugby legend Paul O’Connell — who is fronting the development on behalf of Mr McManus — said the development aims to attract 100,000 visitors per annum.
“It’s not a building full of artifacts, it’s a digitally interactive experience. I suppose sports museums wouldn't perform well historically, whereas a digitally interactive experience is what kids and families want, and it is how you can bring the sport to life,” Mr O’Connell said.
The history of rugby will be relayed across modern digital audio and visual booths.
“There will be a whole floor of interactive experiences that kids and adults alike will love," said the Munster legend.
He, along with Mr McManus’s daughter Sue-Ann Foley, is a director of the not-for-profit company behind the project.
The “premier focus” is to boost the city centre economy as well as supporting tourism in the surrounding region.
The development has suffered delays in the construction phase due to the Covid-19 pandemic but Paul O’Connell remains upbeat it can open in the autumn 2022.
“There has been delays for sure, but we have had to roll with the punches, we just have to follow (public health) guidelines, and whatever happens, happens; at the moment, it’s full steam ahead.
“Hopefully it will be big for Limerick, and hopefully it helps other attractions that we have on our doorstep, including Bunratty Castle, King John’s Castle, the Hunt Museum, the Gaelic Grounds, and Thomond Park.
"The more attractions you have in a city the more chance you have of a family making a weekend journey of it.”
Limerick international rugby referee, and former Munster and Irish women’s rugby international, Joy Neville, is one of a host of rugby stars who will feature in the digital visitor experience.
Mr O’Connell said encouraging children, particularly “young girls”, into sport, where they can access great adult role models, is something he is passionate about, having a young daughter of his own.
"I grew up in a house with three boys, and it’s only now that I realise the role of girls in sport, to show other young girls that this is a viable lifestyle for you.
“It’s great to see and it’s great to have the Olympics on the television so that the young girls are watching other young girls knocking it out of the park.”
He agrees sport has its role to play in the regeneration of Limerick, which has some of the most impoverished communities in the country as well as affluent neighbourhoods.
