DUBLIN - September 14, 2009 - Today, The Convention Centre, Dublin (CCD), announced that it is celebrating the One Year Countdown to opening for business in September 2010.

As part of a unique Public Private Partnership with The Office of Public Works, The CCD, currently being built on the banks of the River Liffey, will provide Ireland with its first world-class, purpose-built convention centre. This will enable Ireland to compete in the lucrative international convention circuit. The contract was signed to build and manage the convention centre in April 2007, The CCD sales team has been successfully selling in key overseas markets and has confirmed over 24 events, which vary in size from 10 to 4,500 delegates. This represents an additional €76.8m in economic benefit for the Irish economy.

"We are now just 12 months away from opening. We are proud of all of the achievements of the all the pre-opening teams. Construction is ahead of schedule and vigorous focused marketing has ensured a strong base of international bookings and enquiries for years to come." said Dermod Dwyer, Chairman, The Convention Centre, Dublin. "All the CCD market feedback underscores that there is a large as yet untapped market for Dublin. With the ongoing support from our numerous partners we'll continue to stay focused on capturing more much-needed business for Dublin and Ireland." With an investment of €380 million, this state-of-the-art venue is already starting to pay off as it has attracted a variety of high caliber events including The International Bar Association Annual Conference, The Rotary International of Great Britain & Ireland Conference, The International Conference on Emergency Medicine and The International Statistical Institute Conference among others.

"We have an exciting year ahead getting the building ready to receive our first customers and finally putting Dublin on the map to receive worldwide conventions and meeting," said Nick Waight, Chief Executive Officer, The Convention Centre, Dublin. "We are also delighted with our strong pipeline of business, which speaks to our ability to provide a premium service and true value for money in a stunning venue."

Developed by Treasury Holdings, The Convention Centre, Dublin, is situated at Spencer Dock on the banks of the River Liffey. Ireland's first purpose-built international convention and event venue is positioned to become the leading premium mid-sized convention centre in Europe. The venue is configured to accommodate conferences from 8 to 8,000 participants in 22 purpose-built meeting rooms. It includes a 2,000-seat auditorium, 4,500 square metres of exhibition space and banqueting facilities for up to 3,000 guests. The centre combines flexible and elegant conference halls and meeting spaces with an experienced management team and an extensive range of support services. Offering the latest technology, this sophisticated venue will include advanced audio-visual equipment and lighting systems as well as Wi-Fi enabled halls and meeting rooms. The venue will employ approximately 250 full-time staff when operational.