The decision by the Web Summit to quit Ireland was taken after its organisers became increasingly frustrated at what they believed was a lack of assistance from the taoiseach’s office.
Documents showing correspondence between government officials and organisers were released yesterday by Paddy Cosgrave, the event’s co-founder. They show that organisers made repeated attempts to seek help from the Department of the Taoiseach on issues such as public transport, traffic restrictions, hotel prices and wi-fi problems at the Royal Dublin Society, the event’s venue.
The government last night sought to play down the claims. Enda Kenny said that he had previously told Mr Cosgrave that “every assistance” would be provided, adding that the government was “very encouraging all along the line”. The coalition also claimed that the correspondence released by Mr Cosgrave was selective.
Alex White, a Labour TD and minister for communications, said that his department had received no requests for help from the summit’s organisers. He said that if officials had received specific requests they would have been addressed, but he claimed that it would not be normal for such levels of support to be associated with conferences.
The Web Summit, which has been relocated to Lisbon, was estimated to be worth €37.5 million to Dublin’s economy last year. The government has been attempting to play down the claims of a lack of assistance by pointing to financial support of about €700,000 which was received by the summit over the past three years. The event’s organisers have said that this money was for sponsorship and partnership deals.
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Mr Cosgrave released 14 emails yesterday to “place on record the issues in question”. The email correspondence begins on August 21, the day after Mr Cosgrave phoned Mr Kenny to tell him that Portugal intended to announce a bid to host the event, and ends on September 23, the day the Web Summit announced that it was moving from Dublin to Lisbon.
The messages, some of which were entitled “Web Summit: Urgent”, addressed to Nick Reddy, the taoiseach’s private secretary and John Callinan, the assistant secretary-general in the department, conveyed an increasingly frustrated tone
The emails reveal that Mr Cosgrave told government officials that he was meeting ministers from other countries, who were at the time providing detailed plans on how they would host the event. On September 22, Mr Callinan provided a one-page document which Mr Cosgrave called “misleading, and deliberately so”.
Mr Callinan has made clear that he did not mislead Mr Cosgrave.
“It’s a plan to have an indicative plan. And represents no material change since we started this process,” Mr Cosgrave wrote. “While other countries can prepare highly detailed proposals with no experience hosting Web Summit, the Irish government cannot even present an indicative one page plan for Web Summit 2016. To repeat we are not asking for a penny, just a plan primarily for transport and traffic management,” Mr Cosgrave wrote.
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Brian Caulfield, chairman of the Irish Venture Capital Association, said last night that he was not surprised by the content of the emails.
“The wi-fi in the RDS is not the government’s problem, but this is reflective of a wider indifference to the start-up community and entrepreneurs,” he said. “There is a very deep lack of understanding of what this sector of the economy can provide. The government just don’t get it,” he added.
Stephen Donnelly, the Social Democrat TD, said that the Irish government was more interested in the promotional aspects of the event rather than using it to boost the technology sector.
In one email Mr Cosgrave wrote: “In Dublin, while press secretaries constantly reached out to our team requesting photo and speaking opportunities for ministers, the British government had a cabinet minister quietly getting on with business in Dublin. No photos required. He wasn’t looking for votes, he was drumming up business for British companies and the British economy at large . . . How can you be outplayed by the British government in your own back yard? Or by the Dutch, the French, the Danes. It’s surreal.”
Mr Donnelly said that the government’s reaction to the departure of the Web Summit showed a lack of interest in improving Ireland’s technology sector.
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“This is not just a tourist event, it’s not just a load of techies flying in to go on pub crawls. A bunch of money also flies in that is looking for a place to stay but we’re not doing anything for it,” Mr Donnelly said.
When the Web Summit moves to Lisbon for three years from 2016, the company will retain its employees in Dublin. The Portuguese government will pay the Web Summit €1.3 million each year.