Taoiseach ‘disappointed’ at Web Summit move from Ireland

Announcing the decision in a blog post, the event’s founder Paddy Cosgrave began his piece by thanking Ireland for the last five years, but subsequently went on to say that if it wants to continue growing the Web Summit needs to leave the confines of Dublin.

Determined to make it a political hot potato, Fianna Fail Dublin South Bay representative, Cllr Jim O’Callaghan, states that, “The loss of the internationally renowned Web Summit is hugely embarrassing for Dublin and the entire country”.

In 2014, over 22,000 people attended, and this year around 30,000 are expected.

While the Web Summit has been approached in the past by other European cities keen to attract it in, it is understood that the search for a new home only began in earnest at the start of this year. “We are proud of the fact that we have become an important pillar of the global startup ecosystem and that 90pc of our attendees come from overseas “. 90% of our attendees come from overseas .

The company has confirmed it will continue to be based in Ireland and employs 130 people at its Dublin headquarters. Our roots are Irish.

The move will be a blow to the Irish economy, with last year’s event bringing in an estimated €100m according to Fáilte Ireland, the Irish tourist board. It was those first attendees who became our greatest champions, spreading the word of Web Summit far and wide.

“We chose Lisbon because of the strong infrastructure in the city, the fantastic venue and the thriving startup community”, Cosgrave said in his statement.

The RDS has repeatedly refused Cosgrave’s request to let him install a new tech infrastructure for the Web Summit. It has launched a number of spin-off conferences, including Collision in the U.S. and RISE in Hong Kong.

Web Summit is one of the largest tech gatherings in Europe, along with Slush in Finland and the massive Mobile World Congress in Barcelona.

In Lisbon, the event will take place at the MEO Arena and Feira Internacional de Lisboa (FIL), which can accommodate at least 50,000 people, and has extensive transport links and capacity to enable it to grow significanlty in the future.

“We’re excited to move but also saddened about leaving Dublin”, he said.

“Now we will be concentrating on making Web Summit 2015 the best ever”.

“We like to think that Web Summit is a gathering of the decision makers of today and the entrepreneurs of tomorrow”. More than 2,000 start-ups and 1,000 investors and 650 speakers will take part in the three-day conference this year.