Construction firm John Sisk & Son said yesterday it had been awarded the £104 million (€132 million) contract to build the National Conference Centre in Dublin. Sisk said it would begin its preparations immediately for a June start-up, with completion expected in mid-2001.

"It is the most important public building to be constructed in Ireland for many years," the company said, "and deserves to be dealt with speedily through the fast-tracking of planning procedures."

The contract is part of the development of the CIE-owned 560-acre site at Spencer Dock, near the North Wall, comprising six million square feet, and is the largest of its type undertaken in the city.