Cork event centre will require more public funds says City Hall; €57m bill due to rise again

MORE public funding will be required for the Cork event centre project to become a reality, City Hall has said.

Responding to a query from Independent councillor Mick Finn at this week’s Cork City Council meeting, chief executive Ann Doherty confirmed that verification of the design costs of the centre has been completed.

Ms Doherty said the council is engaging with BAM and Live Nation on the outcome of the council’s assessment of designs and costings for the development.

She added that a recommendation on an additional amount of State aid would be made “in due course” and said that it is “anticipated” that construction will begin on the centre in the first quarter of 2024.

Mr Finn noted that “a lot of water has passed under the South Gate bridge” since the development was announced, as the council’s chief executive confirmed the estimated €57m bill due to taxpayers is again set to rise.

When the centre was first proposed a decade ago, the consortium which won the tender for the centre in 2014, BAM and Live Nation, was expected to benefit from an initial €20m State aid package for the development, estimated to cost over €50m.

The sod was turned in February 2016 by then taoiseach Enda Kenny in a pre-election photo opportunity, but delays have seen the initial cost estimates spiral towards €85m, with projected State funding passing €57m.

The 6,000-seat multi-purpose centre was expected to be completed by 2018.