Dublin eyes €225m world-class arena modeled on Madison Square Garden

Dublin is being pitched a €225 million sports and concert venue—a sleek indoor arena modeled on Madison Square Garden that would anchor the city's south side at Cherrywood. The catch: the Government would need to commit €66 million to make it happen.

Prime Arena Holdings, the company behind the proposal, has assembled a heavyweight backing team. Denis Desmond, the founder of concert promoter MCD, is involved. So are Mickey O'Rourke, who built Setanta and Premier Sports into broadcasting powerhouses, and Tom Kennedy, a tech investor and co-founder of Hostelworld. The public affairs firm Hume Brophy and financier Helen Work round out the consortium. These are not people accustomed to small ambitions.

The arena itself would seat between 6,000 and 8,000 people and feature two Olympic-sized ice rinks under a single roof. One would host major international ice hockey, figure skating, and curling competitions. The other would serve schools, community groups, and grassroots development. Beyond winter sports, the venue would pivot to basketball, tennis, and concerts—the business plan projects 50 to 70 events annually, ranging from international exhibitions to corporate conferences. Prime Arena is already in talks with the US and Canadian National Hockey Leagues about bringing teams like the Boston Bruins and Toronto Maple Leafs to Dublin for a launch series, building on momentum from the American football game that drew crowds to the city last September.

The economic argument is substantial. A study by Professor Tony Foley at DCU Business School calculated that the arena could generate €298 million in annual economic activity, support 2,409 jobs, and attract 67,500 international visitors each year. The architects are Populous, the firm behind the Sphere in Las Vegas and Tottenham Hotspur's stadium in London. In November, Prime Arena's chief executive Dermot Rigley wrote to Enterprise Minister Peter Burke laying out the financial case: a one-time state investment of €66 million would unlock €159 million in private capital—a ratio well below what comparable European venues have required, and significantly lower than what Ireland itself invested in the Aviva Stadium (47 percent) and Croke Park (42 percent).

The Olympic Federation of Ireland has signaled support. Its chief executive, Peter Sherrard, wrote to the minister noting that an ice facility would be crucial for social integration, particularly for the large Eastern and Northern European communities in Ireland, and would create pathways for people with disabilities to access winter sports. Junior sports minister Charlie McConalogue acknowledged the proposal contains "exciting elements with potential economic benefits," though he emphasized that any decision would require examination across multiple government departments.

But enthusiasm has limits. Government sources, speaking on condition of anonymity, called the €66 million ask "a hell of a lot of money." One official noted that the same sum could fund four swimming pools across the country. The decision, they stressed, is too large for any single department to make. It requires whole-of-Government sign-off—a process that typically moves slowly, if at all. Dún Laoghaire-Rathdown County Council has already moved to change zoning rules at the Cherrywood site to allow the project to advance to planning, but zoning is only the first gate. The real test lies ahead: whether Dublin's political leadership will bet €66 million on an arena that promises to transform the city into a winter sports destination and concert capital.