Minister for Tourism Enda Kenny had announced the location of the proposed convention centre to be at the RDS in Ballsbridge – this proved to be a dead-end.

In November 1997, with the new Fianna Fáil-led government elected, a new competition to build the conference centre was launched by Tourism Minister James McDaid, with seven consortia entering.

The Ogden/Sonas Centre group headed by Robert White, whose plans for a casino-based scheme at the Phoenix Park had been abandoned by the previous government, also entered the competition.

The Anna Livia Consortium, comprising Earlsfort Group, Bennett Construction and Kilsarin Concrete, proposed a conference centre complex within Dublin Port across the street from the O2.

[4] Treasury Holdings, headed by Johnny Ronan and Richard Barrett, who were the ultimate winners of the competition, entered into an agreement with CIE to locate its project at Spencer Dock.

[6] In 2012, the Spencer Dock Development Company was put into liquidation and Grant Thornton appointed Rubicon Capital Advisors to sell the contract to run the centre in 2015.