Minister for Tourism, Culture, Arts, Gaeltacht, Sport and Media, Catherine Martin and Fáilte Ireland have announced a €1 million investment through the Platforms for Growth Gala Dinner Venues Investment Scheme.
The investment has been allocated to five projects to facilitate the development of gala dinner venues of scale in four of Ireland’s business events hubs - Dublin, Kerry, the Shannon Region and Galway.
'Overall Objective'
"The overall objective of this focused capital investment scheme is to facilitate the development of ‘wow’ gala dinner venues of scale in Ireland’s premier business events hubs," said Paul Kelly, CEO of Fáilte Ireland.
"We were encouraged to see the calibre of applicants and we are pleased that the five awarded projects will add truly best-in-class venues to the Irish venue portfolio.”
International Business
Fáilte Ireland said the investment will go towards the development and enhancement of the venues, to enable them to compete to win international business events for Ireland.
It is estimated that €67 million worth of incremental business events could be delivered for the country over a five year period on the back of this investment.
Strategically Selected
The announcement is the culmination of a competitive application process which began in 2022.
The projects receiving investment were strategically selected under strict eligibility criteria, including an ability to deliver not only on capacity (350 diners for Dublin venues and 250 diners for venues in regional Ireland) but also on accessibility, in terms of their proximity to one of Ireland’s business events hubs.
'World-Class Venues'
“The business events industry is a key component of Ireland’s tourism offering and driver of economic benefit for Ireland, with an estimated contribution of almost €800 million to our economy and supporting 20,000 jobs," said Minister Catherine Martin.
"Today’s investment announcement will ensure world-class venues are developed that will attract international business events to our key business events hubs."
Capital Investment
The venues receiving capital investment funding from Fáilte Ireland under the Gala Dinner Venues Investment Scheme are:
Claregalway Castle, Galway
Custom House Quarter Ltd., Dublin
Killarney Brewing & Distilling Visitors Experience Limited, Kerry
Saint Mary’s Cathedral, Limerick
St Nicholas’ Collegiate Church, Galway
