Council meets to discuss Dublin theme park plan

The proposal to build a 2,000-acre theme park outside Lusk in north Co Dublin will be discussed at a Fingal County Council meeting…

The proposal to build a 2,000-acre theme park outside Lusk in north Co Dublin will be discussed at a Fingal County Council meeting tonight.

Planning officials have so far expressed concern at the economic sustainability of the €7 billion "Vega City Project" which they say would flout existing development plans and cause major traffic congestion.

The consortium behind the proposal, United Entertainment Partners (UEP), said today all it is seeking from Fingal County Council "is a willingness to engage in constructive dialogue to assess the issues posed by their proposals".

UEP says the park would attract 37 million tourists annually, employ 40,000 people and result in the biggest investment in the State's history.

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The consortium's managing director, Mr Louis Maguire, said: "We are not seeking planning permission or approval to submit an application from the County Council today."

"What we do hope for is a preparedness to sit down with us to assess all aspects of the project through constructive dialogue," he said.

The identity of the international investors behind the project are not yet known, but Mr Maguire claimed around €2.5 billion had already been secured for the first phase of the project.

The consortium's chairman Mr Owen O'Callaghan has been meeting councillors in Fingal County Council to discuss plans ahead of tonight's meeting.

Eoin Burke-Kennedy

Eoin Burke-Kennedy

Eoin Burke-Kennedy is Economics Correspondent of The Irish Times