Convention Centre Opens For Business

Dublin's new Convention Centre, which opened for business last week, has already secured 150 events, providing a much-needed boost of over €110m to the Irish economy.

The centre positions Dublin to take advantage of the massive global conference market.

It can accommodate up to 8,000 delegates - and includes a massive 2,000-seat auditorium, and a banqueting hall that caters for 3,000 guests.

"The opening of the Convention Centre Dublin marks the beginning of a new era for convention and business tourism in Ireland," according to Taoiseach Mr. Brian Cowen.

"This Centre will help Ireland win a greater share of this lucrative market, which, despite the international downturn, continues to provide high-value visitors."

Official estimates say that international delegates at conferences like the ones that will be held in centre are worth in excess of €1,500 to the local economy.

The idea for the centre was first mooted almost 20 years ago - but construction only began in 2007.

The striking addition to Dublin's skyline is a cube-shaped building, with a glass circular atrium tilted on its side at the front.

Visitors attending events will have an opportunity to enjoy extensive views across Dublin city, bay and the Dublin Mountains.

It was designed by Kevin Roche, a renowned architect who grew up in Mitchelstown, Co. Cork, but is now based in Connecticut.

He's best known for his work in the United States, including the Metropolitan Museum of Art's Lehman Pavilion in New York (1975), and the Oakland Museum in California (1962).

Now 88 years of age, the Convention Centre Dublin (The CCD) is his first work in Ireland - the idea was first brought to him by developer Johnny Ronan in 1997, when he was 75.

He told the audience on the opening night that he could barely express "how exciting and what an extraordinary experience it was" to be there at the opening.

Among the entertainment was a rendition of "Molly Malone" by singer Sinead O'Connor, a performance from the boyband Westlife, and reading of a specially commissioned poem from Poet Micheál Ó Siadhail.

The CCD claims to be the world's first carbon neutral convention centre .