Council chief says she expects to be sitting at Cork events centre within three years 

The Chief Executive of Cork City Council has said that she hopes to be sitting in the front row of Cork’s event centre within the next three years.

Ann Doherty described the event centre as “an amazing project” and one which will be game-changing for the city, while also recognising some challenges relating to building inflation.

She said that the project was 'ready to go' save for a funding gap associated with building inflation. 

“Where is it at? It’s fully designed. It’s fully planned. It’s ready to go but there is a gap, a gap in funding which is associated with building inflation,” she said.

“So, that decision is something that the government has to consider about how much they can support that.

“There is no doubt it is going to be a game-changing project for the city, it still is. It still stacks up.

“We have Live Nation, the best entertainment company in the world. So, I would hope that I would be in the front row within three years. That’s what I would hope.

“It is there, it’s just the building inflation which nobody could have anticipated, is the challenge.” 

Ms Doherty was speaking at Cork Chamber’s Business Breakfast at the Cork International Hotel on Thursday morning.

CEO of Cork Chamber Conor Healy urged people who have an opportunity to engage particularly with senior politicians in the region to do so and highlight how important this Events Centre will be for Cork.

“The return over time from a tax perspective alone would vastly diminish whatever these costs would be,” he said.