Minister for Agriculture Simon Coveney says he is confident a planned €50 million event centre for Cork will be built despite the fact work on the project has been delayed.
Mr Coveney said he expected work to commence on the 6,000 seat event centre at the former Beamish and Crawford brewery before the end of the year.
It was announced earlier this year that joint developers Heineken and BAM would start work on the South Main Street site in the autumn but to date none has taken place.
Mr Coveney insisted work on the centre, to which the State has committed €12 million and Cork City Council a further €8 million to kick-start the development, would soon be underway.
“What I said here is that this project was never going to start on site until the autumn of this year and I still think it’s going to start on site before the end of year and I am saying that consistently,” he said.
“I speak to the developer on a regular basis and other interested parties as well and I am sure this is going to happen - the issues that are left to resolve now, you could count them on one hand.”
Demolition work
Mr Coveney said he was keen to see demolition work start on the site and the outstanding problems should be regarded as “finality issues”.
The site is owned by Heineken and the event centre, the centre piece of the €150 million Brewery Quarter, will be built by BAM and operated by global entertainment group Live Nation.
“I know there are lot of sceptics out there who need to see a wrecking ball on site - we will get that wrecking ball on site fairly soon but there is a big private sector financing element to this project,” Mr Coveney added.
“Every detail needs to be agreed before things begin and the site gets sold from Heineken to BAM but my understanding is that we are nearly close to getting that and 95pc of the work is done.”
Apart from a 6,000 seat capacity venue, plans for the site include a 360-degree viewing tower and a tourist centre in the former brewery’s Counting House on South Main Street.
The project, which is expected to provide 400 construction jobs as well as 900 direct jobs on completion, also includes a seven-screen cinema complex, studios for artists, retail units, student accommodation and offices.
