COMHAIRLE CONTAE ÁTHA CLIATH THEAS
SOUTH DUBLIN COUNTY COUNCIL

south dublin county council crest

MEETING OF TALLAGHT AREA COMMITTEE (1)

Monday, September 24, 2012

MOTION NO. 1

MOTION: Councillor D. Looney

Cathaoirleach’s Business

That this Committee congratulate all involved in planning for events taking place under the banner of "The Gathering" in the area under the remit of this Committee in 2013; that an outline is given of plans specific to this area; and that a headed item be included no less than every two months for the coming year on "The Gathering" at each meeting of this Committee to discuss these plans and involve Councillors in helping to promote and support these events.

REPORT:

South Dublin County Tourism (SDCT) proposes to host a number of international tournaments (up to 22 to date) under "The Gathering 2012" featuring different sports, culture and art genres and focusing primarily on several of the most important tourism markets - the USA, UK, Canada and Europe. The underpinning idea is that we make the optimum use of the facilities that we have available to us in the County - particularly Tallaght Stadium, the National Baskteball Arena, and Corkagh Park, where there is one of the very few Baseball Diamonds in Ireland.

It is proposed to stage both international Soccer and American Football tournaments in Tallaght Stadium, which of course has catered for both sports on many occasions already. The National Basketball Arena will be used to host a number of international Basketball tournaments. These are the events which are likely to have the greatest impact on the area covered by this ACM,  There are also both Bridge and Poker competitions scheduled to take place in the CityWest hotel.

All of these events are planned to be free of charge for spectators and are expected to attract very significant numbers of visitors from abroad. These visitors will have a great economic impact on many of the businesses in the area, obviously on the catering and hospitality sector in particular. This will help to stabilise jobs and businesses and may possibly create more jobs of a temporary nature.

SDCT and SDCC are working very closely together on this project and have linked up directly with the various National Governing Bodies of the various sports to ensure the successful hosting of these tournaments. If the motion is passed, the Area Committee Meeting will be brought up to date on progress every two months, as requested.