'Work on Dublin conference centre to begin next summer'
The Government is reportedly hoping that work on the long-awaited conference centre planned for Dublin will finally get underway next summer.
Reports this morning said the cabinet decided yesterday to appoint a consortium involving Irish Rail and Treasury Holdings as the "provisonal preferred tenderer" for the project.
The consortium is now set to enter talks with the Government on a public-private partnership agreement that will the eventually see the new building becoming fully State-owned.
The 2,000-capacity national conference centre, which has experienced years of delays and false starts, will be located on Spencer Dock and will cost around €400m.
This morning's reports said the Government was hoping construction work would get underway next summer, with a target date for completion of 2008.
Tourism Minister John O'Donoghue is due to announce further details of the project later today.
