Web Summit emails make uncomfortable reading

While the debate rages over whether the Government dropped the ball in letting the Web Summit leave, or if the event’s founders were over-demanding in their requests, what is not in doubt is the embarrassment which elements of the correspondences released this week will cause the cabinet, writes Joe Leogue

Opinions on the summit’s requests are divided. For example it seems reasonable that the authorities implement a traffic-management plan for an event of its size. However, it is a tad ironic that free market entrepreneurs should ask the Taoiseach to interfere with hotel prices, and accuse the hospitality industry of “gouging” when the summit charges €739 for a standard ticket.

However, claims that ministers were “outplayed” on their own doorstep by their European counterparts in terms of their engagement with the tech industry’s best will make uncomfortable reading for a government that has long sought to portray itself as the catalyst that will make Ireland “The Best Small Country In The World In Which To Do Business”.